Totally Didn’t See That Coming

It's been a few days since I've written anything of substance about my life. There are reasons for that many of those reasons are simply life related. Life is not easy for families like mine and I am not an exception to that rule. I've been working as much as possible because we need the income and much of that is digital marketing and behind the scenes stuff. Nothing you would probably notice, like a new post. The kids have been struggling but at the same time, they're back to school regularly and I'm not getting ransom calls during the day anymore, telling me I have to come pick them up. That's hugely positive and I'm grateful for that because it's forward progress. Elliott has been emotionally distant. His body…

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Lindsay Fogarty: The Rare Disease Mom (New Pod S2E3)

In this week's episode of The Autism Dad Podcast, I speak with my good friend and fellow Autism parent, Lindsay Fogarty. She's an Autism, rare disease and patient advocate, as well as, a blogger and volunteer lobbyist. We talk about why she's called "The Rare Disease Mom", what her daily life is like, what she's doing to raise awareness and help others. This is a very powerful, uplifting and inspirational conversation. Go grab a snack and enjoy the great conversation. ☺Lindsay can be found at therarediseasemom.com and on twitter @rarediseasemom Subscribe via your favorite app by clicking a button. :-) The presenting sponsor for this episode of The Autism Dad Podcast is Lakikid. Visit lakikid.com/theautismdad for more information. 

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What it means to be a father and why I adopted my son

A good portion of you probably don't know this because I don't advertise it, but exactly 11 years ago today, my life changed forever. Shortly before lunch on October 22, 2008, I stood before Judge Dixie Park, sobbing like a baby, barely able to mutter a word, as I officially adopted Gavin. He didn't understand what was going on, but Lizze and I certainly did. For those who don't know, Gavin is Lizze's son from her first marriage. I've been raising him as my own since he was just over a year old. Every year I share the letter I wrote the judge, explaining who I was, who Gavin was, and why I wanted to adopt him. I'll let the letter speak for itself. Have a great night.. ☺ October…

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Ultimate Guide To Changing Your Child’s Surname

When a child is born to married parents, things are somewhat simple. Either one or both of them usually register the child’s name on the birth certificate. The surname is the name by which the actual family unit is recognized, and it is common for children to take their father’s surname. That is, except the mother suggests a different surname, and the father agrees to this. However, with unmarried fathers, things are a bit different. They don’t have to register the birth of their children and don’t have an independent right to have their names on the child’s birth certificate. If an unmarried mother wishes to enter the father’s name, that’s only possible if they both agree, and sign the register, each gives a sworn statement, or they have an…

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This needs to be super quick

I'm exhausted and going to sleep soon, so this needs to be quick. We had a pretty awesome day here in The Autism Dad house. We had some challenges but we all rose to the occasion and made it through. I had two podcast interviews today and while one was met with some tech issues, it's rescheduled for next week. I'm looking forward to that. The second one was with my friend Lindsay from therarediseasemom.com. It was a fantastic conversation and it should air on Friday. For the most part, the kids did well today and I'm always grateful for days like this. I'm feeling optimistic about the week and ready to take on whatever it through my direction. ☺

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I took the kids on an adventure…sort of

The kids and I had a pretty good afternoon. I wanted to take the them hiking and ultimately decided on the John T Huston - Dr John D Brumbaugh Nature Center. It was about a 30 minute drive but it was pretty amazing. We'd never been there before and didn't know what to expect. My main goal was to get them some exercise and keep them distracted for a little while. Our hike only lasted about 2 miles cause we were concerned about running out of daylight. The kids did great and there was a lot of elevation change throughout the hike, so it was a bit more difficult than they're used to. We had a lot of fun and everyone is exhausted. Sleep should be good tonight. On the…

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A little overcompensation here and a little overcompensation there

So I've been avoiding talking about specifically what caused my marriage to implode and that's not going to change. Truthfully, there's a great deal I still don't understand myself and probably never will. Having said that, I do feel that it's fair and even important to speak about what I'm personally experiencing as a single parent because there's others out there going through similar things. Please don't read into anything because nothing I say is intended to be subtext. If you read last night's post, it was pretty clear that I was not in a good place. I was hurt, frustrated and even a little angry, but not at my kids. Thankfully, today has been a better day thus far. One of the things I'm struggling with is overcompensation. It's…

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It f*cking hurts to know that I’m not enough

We've had a busy day and while it's been mostly positive, there are some things that have my stress and anxiety through the roof. Okay. So the kids had a birthday party this afternoon and it was really nice. Emmett's friend is a sweet kid and his family is pretty amazing as well. It was fun and actual adult company is sorely lacking in my life. The bad news starts with Elliott dropping his phone at the party and shattering the screen. He's absolutely beside himself and has been in a horrible mood since it happened. He cannot cope with loss right now and this feels like a major loss to him. The yellow lines run alongside the cracks to show where they are. Some of the cracks are raised,…

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