Today's Victory Archives - The Autism Dad

I’m really proud of what we accomplished today, even if others don’t get it

I've not talked about this much but I've started working out again. While I really, really want a treadmill, I'm making do with some free weights and a set of BowFlex kettlebells. There are some serious cardio exercises that can be done with kettlebells. Anyway, I was feeling pretty good today and so I suggested we go to our favorite outdoor location, Quail Hollow. We didn't have a whole lot of time because the boys had therapy but we got in a short hike. Elliott's eyes kill me here. He was goofing around and that's a positive thing. I mean the drive was longer than the hike but the boys got to take some awesome pictures and we found some cool little creatures along the way. We set out with…

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September 15, 2020

Emmett John / My thoughts / Today's Victory

Holy sh*t, I couldn’t believe my eyes

I'm having a rough day emotionally and I'm struggling to find the patience that my kids deserve. I think by most standards I'm doing really well but I tend to hold myself to a much higher standard and therefore, I feel I need to do better. That being said, I'm not going to dwell on the negative tonight. Instead, I want to focus on celebrating a really important victory. Unless you're an Autism parent, you might not appreciate this but I assure you, it's a big deal. The above picture is my youngest, Emmett. He recently turned 11 years old and I couldn't be prouder of who he is. He diagnosed with Autism when he was much younger, we were told he was nonverbal and probably would never talk. He's…

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October 28, 2019

My thoughts / Today's Victory

I’m so f*cking proud of my kids

Shortly after I published the last post about the kids not going to school, they ended up going to school. It wasn't until closer to noon but they went and that's positive. Perhaps all they needed was some time to get settled and work through whatever it was they were dealing with. Either way, they both went back. Elliott was less enthusiastic then Emmett was but he still went back. I spoke with the office and made some arrangements for Elliott to spend time drawing if he gets too stressed out. That's a far better alternative than sending him home. The school said that was no problem at all. Hopefully, when he walks out the door this afternoon, he had a chance to draw so he feels like he's been…

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September 10, 2019

My thoughts / Today's Victory

Remaining focused on the positive isn’t easy but it’s important

I'm focusing on the positives today, at least I'm trying to. For right now, I have two things that I'm placing in the win column for right now. The first and by far, most important thing from today, is that the boys had a great day at school. Elliott complained that it was too hot, but outside of that he didn't have any complaints. I do know that he didn't eat his lunch and I don't like that but hopefully it's just a one time thing. Lastly, I have some cool free stuff coming from Samsung this week. Every year I upgrade to the new Samsung Note because I use it to run everything I do. The podcasts are recorded, edited, mixed and uploaded from my phone. All social media…

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September 3, 2019

My thoughts / Today's Victory

I took all 3 of my #Autistic kids to the grocery store today

My claim to fame today has been taking all three on my Autistic kids grocery shopping. Everyone did really well and I couldn't be prouder or more grateful for their cooperation. I often feel like I'm in over my head but today, they made a challenging situation a bit more manageable. ☺ We ended up at Walmart because major grocery shopping is usually cheaper there. We buy a lot of frozen fruit and veggies for smoothies. It's definitely cheaper than Giant Eagle, even though I prefer them over Walmart. The most challenging part of the trip was deciding on air fresheners. When Lizze was here, we couldn't have anything fragrant because they triggered her migraines. Now it's just a matter of agreeing in what we want the house to smell…

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September 1, 2019

My thoughts / Today's Victory

I’m so grateful for these 3 amazing things that happened yesterday

Admittedly, I had a really really bad day yesterday and I had a difficult time seeing any positives as a result. Last night I had bizarre, divorce related nightmares. It was the kind of nightmares where I woke up suddenly, in a cold sweat. That said, I did sleep some and I'm grateful for that. Part of me feels recharged enough to recognize that we had some positive things sprinkled into our lives yesterday. I want to start the new day by focusing on them. There aren't in any particular order. It's the order my brain is stringing my thoughts together this morning. So, yeah.. Yesterday I took the plunge and made pepperoni rolls more from scratch. I used raw pizza dough and sandwich pepperoni. I made a batch while…

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August 30, 2019

Gavin / My thoughts / Today's Victory

Gavin did something pretty amazing tonight

I wanted to touch base and let you know that things are going pretty good at the moment. Gavin's appointment with immunology went well and he's had a pretty good day. In fact, Gavin's had an awesome day. The kids had therapy tonight and while we were there, we were trying to work through a disagreement with Elliott. It got a bit heated and Elliott expressed himself in a way that wasn't very respectful. We know he was frustrated but we still need to be respectful. It's a little bit harder for him but we just need to keep working on it. Elliott's rough time went on for about half an hour before Gavin, who was on the other side of the room with Emmett, just sorta snapped. He stood…

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August 8, 2019

Emmett John / My thoughts / Today's Victory

I want to share something positive from yesterday

I forgot to share a really positive moment from yesterday. My brain isn't firing on all cylinders at the moment. So please forgive me. Mr. Emmett really, really, really likes watching Bob's Burgers. I enjoy Bob's Burgers as well but not so much that I can watch it nonstop. I was trying to get Emmett to unplug yesterday and he did, but he spent the entire time stressing out because he couldn't figure out what he wanted to do. Nothing I suggested sounded good to him. He became very, very anxious. Emmett is a big snuggler and I've never been one to shy away from snuggles, so I had an idea.. Maybe he would want to snuggle while watching Bob's Burgers. That would sorta be the best of both worlds.…

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August 6, 2019