Holiday Gift Guide 2020

Welcome to my gift guide for Christmas/Holiday 2020. Below is my slowly evolving list of recommendations for your Christmas/Holiday shopping list this year. These items are from multiple categories and not only make great gifts but can also improve the lives of autism or special needs families like mine. My family has used everything in this list and I feel quite comfortable sharing these suggestions with all of you. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. More items to come as I get a chance to add them. Safe Place Bedding One of the coolest things I've seen for kiddos in the autism spectrum this year is Safe Place Bedding. This is an inflatable space for your child to sleep. It's like a tent that helps kids feel…

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So Gavin started running a low grade fever tonight

It's been a really challenging day for about a million reasons. I was going to touch on some of those reasons but yet another issue has made itself known and this is going to be the priority until I know otherwise. Gavin is running what is a low grade fever for him. He's very much like his mother in the sense that they usually run a bit low and almost never run a fever. Lizze was notorious for having really bad strep throat but never running a fever. Gavin's always been very similar. Elliott noticed that Gavin's ears were bright red and became concerned. I'm not worried about his ears being red but to help put his concerns to rest and that of Gavin's because Elliott said something to him,…

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I introduced my kids to ping pong to this week

The other day I received a package from Pro-Spin Sports. Inside the box I found a Play Anywhere Portable Table Tennis Set (2-Player) set. Basically, it turns most tables into a playable ping pong table. https://youtu.be/o2j22RxKW9s We've never had a ping pong set in my house before and I wasn't entirely sure how this was going to go. I don't think I've played ping pong since college and even then I wasn't very good at it. I was a little concerned about my kids getting frustrated because this game can be a bit challenging. Having said that, in the last few days, Emmett and I have literally played dozens of matches. Turns out he's played before at his grandparents house but just didn't know the rules. We spent a few…

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Here’s what happened this past week

It's been a couple of days and the truth is, I'm just overwhelmed right now. The kids are a handful lately and after almost 270 days of our avoiding COVID journey, I think that is to be expected. Just because it's expected or understandable, doesn't mean it's easy. We had a relatively quiet Thanksgiving and ended up ordering Denny's via Doordash. We had cooked a turkey a few days prior and the kids wanted breakfast from Denny's. I figured, why the hell not.. That was pretty much the bulk of our week. I think we went for one hike and that was about it (pictures below). The battery in the car went bad and I had to get it replaced. I also had to do that while preserving as much…

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Helping my son learn to forgive

I had a very challenging morning with my youngest. He's a ball of rage and pain and fear and anger. He got into it with his brothers this morning and just exploded. This isn't who he is but rather how he reacts to all the feelings he keeps locked inside. Yes, Mightier helps him manage these emotions much better but there are things he needs to learn that it doesn't teach. The overall theme to his struggles is loss. He's struggling to deal with a tremendous amount of loss. He's lost all three of his remaining great grandparents, his mother moved out, an aunt died, and an uncle passed away as well. He's lost multiple family pets to cancer and all of this loss took place over the last year…

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It’s Monday for anyone losing track of the days

Generally speaking, Monday and I don't get along. We've been doing this same song and dance for my entire adult life. I feel like Monday tends to shit all over me and that sucks. Typically, I don't even bring it up because Monday will simply reply with fuck you, I missed a spot. It's been a pretty rough morning and I doubt that surprises anyone. Both boys aren't feeling well. I called the school and said I was giving Emmett a late start to see if he'd feelnbeeter enough to make it the rest of the day. He made it through his second class and couldn't go any further. Elliott wasn't feeling well either but he was able to push through his morning classes. Gavin's currently receiving his IVIG Infusion…

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Fingers crossed that I sleep tonight

You know what? It's actually been a pretty good day. Obviously, it wasn't perfect or stress free but I don't think those days even exist. I feel like we made some progress around the house and for the most part, the kids got along with each other. I'm always grateful for that and it helps to maintain a positive tone for the day. It's amazing how something so simple can change the demeanor in the house. I didn't get a whole lot of work done but I've written twice and that hasn't happened in forever. That's big for me and it's progress. This week I need to focus on finishing up episode 39 and before Wednesday. That should be relatively easy, assuming the boys let me have the time needed…

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It’s 2:40 am and I’m too stressed to sleep

It's been a rough day in our house. My tank is pretty much on empty and the kids have been such a handful lately. I'm exhausted and coming up short in the patience department. Currently, it's almost 3am and I still can't fall asleep because it's been such a stressful day. I can't seem to shut my brain off. The kids have been at each other's throats all day. Emmett and Gavin were fighting and I was done with it. I sent them downstairs to call their mom and have her help them resolve whatever they were fighting over. It didn't end well and made things infinitely worse but Lizze did what she could from a distance. The kids needed a physical intervention and that of course, can't be done…

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