Family Archives - Page 104 of 554

Autism Parenting Struggles / My thoughts

Will this be another sleepless night?

As our weekend comes to a close, we are faced with an unexpected challenge. For whatever reason, Elliott and Emmett aren't able to fall asleep. At this point, it's after 1 AM, and they've already had 5mg of melatonin. I'm unsure why of they are struggling tonight. I know Emmett has been complaining about his legs hurting. We suspect they're growing pains, but we are going to call his doctor this week. We're supposed to let her know if we notice anything because she's concerned that he's put on a lot of weight in a short amount of time. It could be a growth spurt but all his life, he's been inside the 13th percentile on the growth charts. Within a six month window, he climbed to over the 50th…

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April 29, 2019

Autism Parenting Insight / My thoughts

I hate chaos, but it’s an inevitable part of my life

I'm feeling a bit better today because I took some ZzzQuil last night, and slept like a baby. I think I actually got a solid 8 hours of sleep. That's both uncommon and awesome, all at the same time. There aren't any plans today outside of working in the house. I want to finish up the laundry and get it put away. Right now, my living room is drowning in laundry, and I desperately want out from underneath all that. I don't know if I've ever specifically spelled this out before, but I hate chaos. I hate it. Chaos is the absence of organization, and I love being organized. Unfortunately, chaos reigns supreme in my house because of the often unpredictable nature of the many Autism related challenges we face…

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April 28, 2019

Autism Parenting Insight / My thoughts

Why I sometimes feel completely overwhelmed

Today is one of those days where I'm not coping well with life. I'm feeling overwhelmed by everything going on around me, and part of me wants to run away. Everyone is struggling in their own way, and there isn't a great deal I can do to help. That's a powerless feeling, and it sucks. Some of the things I could have control over, I don't because I lack the resources to address them. That feels even worse. Lizze is very limited in many ways, so the bulk of everything is falling on me, and that's okay. Gavin is pretty much out of his mind (for lack of a better phrase), and the other two boys are not having an easy go at things either. I'm looking at a ton…

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April 27, 2019

Autism Parenting Struggles / Gavin / My thoughts

I’m going to bed heartbroken

We had a great afternoon/evening at the movies. Avengers: Endgame was amazing. I'll leave it at that cause I don't want to ruin it for anyone. I'm so grateful that we had the opportunity to do this as a family. ☺ Unfortunately, that's where the awesome news ends and the bad news begins. After the boys went to bed tonight, Gavin came downstairs to take his bedtime meds, but before he did that, he needed to tell us something. I've grown to dread these moments because when he says things like this, it's seldom something I want to hear about. Gavin informed us that he wouldn't be able to help out around the house tomorrow because "I'm going to be needed at HQ a lot cause Sonic has a really…

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April 27, 2019

Link / My thoughts

Sometimes I need to feel normal

I'm going to put aside all our problems for today because Avengers: Endgame is out and we're going this afternoon. The kids get out of school at 3 PM, and we're going to head straight to the theater. I hate using the word normal, but the truth is, sometimes it's important to feel normal. Sometimes it's beneficial to get away from everything that's making life stressful and forget about our problems, even if it's only for a few hours. The kids have had a rough couple of weeks, and we've always made it a point to go see the Marvel movies as a family. We don't get to do a ton of cool things but this is something we can pull off, and the kids love every minute of it.…

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April 26, 2019

Artwork / Autism Parenting Insight / Gavin / My thoughts

This made me smile today

It's been a rough day for a multitude of reasons. Rather than focus on the negatives, I wanted to share something a bit more uplifting and positive. I feel like it's important to focus on the positives as much as possible. I realize it's not always easy, especially for Autism parents but it's a good habit to get into. Admittedly, it's still a work in progress for me personally, but I'm making a concerted effort. That said... If you have been following for a while, you know that Gavin used to be quite fond of drawing. As his daily struggles increase and he loses touch with reality, he drifted away from his more artistic side. It was sad to see that part of him fade away because he was always…

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April 26, 2019

My thoughts / Reviews

Review: Jaybird Run XT, Truly Wireless Earbuds by @jaybirdsport

Before we get started, I want to thank Jaybird/Logitech for sponsoring this review and in doing so, helping to support my Autism Awareness efforts. All opinions contained herein are my own. As a veteran Autism and Special Needs parent of nearly twenty years, I'm a huge proponent of self-care. I have made the conscious decision in my life, to take better care of myself because I need to be here as long as possible for my kids. I encourage all my parents to do the same because being an Autism parent isn't easy and stress management is crucial for both physical and emotional health. My big thing is walking. I love walking, and I go pretty much every single day, regardless of the weather. I'm very particular about this process…

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April 25, 2019

Autism Parenting Struggles / Gavin / Meltdowns / My thoughts

24 hours of devastating meltdowns

Gavin is not having a good day. We've already survived several meltdowns, and that was before 9 AM. Yesterday was pretty rough for him as well, and I'm not sure what's going on. Yesterday, he lost it because I was paying him a compliment. I think it came down to semantics on his part. Here's what happened. When I picked him up yesterday morning so I could take him to get his blood work done, I noticed that he was wearing a hoodie. Gavin has this thing where he automatically defaults to wearing his winter coat, hat, and gloves, even in warmer weather. All I did was compliment him for dressing appropriately for the weather. I asked him if he'd checked the weather before heading out to the car and…

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April 25, 2019