Caregiver Burnout Archives - Page 278 of 319

Does anyone know what guilt free sleep is?

The boys left around lunch time and will be back around dinner time. Lizze has been hard at work on a class project, and I took a solid, three hour nap. That's about the extent of our travels. I can't explain how exhausting my daily life is. When I have a chance for some guilt free sleep, I take full advantage. Would it have been nice to do something? Of course it would have, but sometimes it's just not in the cards. The level of exhaustion felt by an Autism parent is indescribable. In many cases, sleep is a luxury we dont have, and neither is free time. When we do get a break, we have a choice. We can either gets some desperately needed sleep, or try and have…

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July 6, 2017

My thoughts

It’s really sad that it’s come to this

The boys will be going to my parents house for the day. We will be getting a nice little break this afternoon and my God do we need it. I haven't even had a shitty night's sleep in almost a week. I'm so desperately looking for a nice long nap. It's sad when you get some time to yourself and all you want to do is sleep.

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July 6, 2017

Gavin / Today's Victory

We reached a unique and amazing milestone

Gavin's going to be eighteen years old in January, and I'm really trying to work on self-care type things with him. Things like showering, shaving, medications, personal hygiene, and even choosing appropriate clothes. For the most part, showering, and medications are things that he can reliably do. Sometimes it can be hit or miss, but he really does a good job. He's been shaving by himself with an electric razor for about a year or two. Sometimes he misses more than he gets, but he puts the effort in, and we just continue to practice. Personal hygiene is something that we struggle with. Gavin is not very self-aware, and so he doesn't pay attention to food on his face, or toothpaste all over his mouth. This is definitely a work…

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July 6, 2017

Figuring Shit Out / My thoughts

I’m desperately hoping this helps

While a nap has been impossible today, I'm doing okay considering I have not had much sleep in the last five days. The boys are asking to go to the indoor playground and I think that's a great idea. Elliott is pretty hung up on Pokémon lately and I'm trying to convince him to leave them behind today. I'd love to see him playing with the other kids, and not everyone is into Pokémon the way he is. I predict I'm going to lose that battle.. 😁 I'm hoping that this will help with exhausting them and aiding in falling asleep tonight.

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July 5, 2017

Gavin

My frustration level is through the roof today

I'm frustrated with Gavin today, but it's not really his fault. He was cleaning out the ferrets litter box, and didn't pay attention to what I had told him, and he ended up breaking the cage. It's possible I'll be able to fix it, but that's not really the point. If he'd simply listened to my words, this could have been avoided. While I'm frustrated, I'm not angry. This is one of the many challenges I face as an Autism parent/special needs parent. The reality is that Gavin my not have heard me. He could have heard but then forgot. He may have also simply been impuslive. All I know is that this isn't fun, and after five nights of major sleep loss. My patience is wearing thin, and I'm…

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July 5, 2017

Autism Parenting Struggles / Elliott / My thoughts

He crashed about an hour ago

Elliott never fell asleep last night. That means he's been awake for roughly four of the last five days. Thays obviously not a good thing. Something has to give, if for no other reason than this is killing me. It's especially tough on days Lizze is in class because I don't get any sleep. Thankfully, Elliott is currently sawing zzz's in his bed. He was so grouchy this morning, we sent him to his room to chill out for a bit. He ended up dozing off while he was there. He's been out for about an hour or so. I can't let him sleep for too long because I don't want this to impact his ability to sleep tonight. This whole thing sucks and it's really taking a toll..

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July 5, 2017

My Crazy Neighborhood / My thoughts

It sounds like a war zone outside our house

As I figured, there would be no sleep happening tonight. Where we live, people begin celebrating the fourth of July early, and carry on doing so a day or two beyond the fourth. It sounds like war zone at night, and into the wee hours of the morning. I wouldn't care so much if they did this during the day but when this goes on all night, it's excessive. I suspect the reason it's done at night is because the explosives they're lighting off, are very illegal in Ohio. Anyway, with loud explosions going off all around us, there's no way the boys can fall asleep. It's currently 3:45 am and I just got Emmett to fall asleep. The poor kid was so tired and overstimulated from all the noise,…

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July 5, 2017

My thoughts / Vivint Gives Back

The amazing ways @VivintGivesBack can help special needs families

As you probably already know, I've been working with the Vivint Gives Back Foundation for the better part of two years. If you've been following our story from the Lost and Tired days, you know that I don't work with many companies, and that's by choice. What makes Vivint Gives Back different, is that they are actually doing things to help special needs families, particularly those who have wandering children. Vivint Home is a company that specializes in both Smart Home and Security technologies. They have created technology that can help you monitor your kids, and limit their ability to exit the house on their own. You will be notified immediately should your child let themselves out of the house. Smart cameras can notify you if your child gets up in the…

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July 4, 2017