I’m heartbroken that he thought this

Emmett has been sleeping in my room since his mom left. He's afraid that if he's not right there, he could wake up and I'll be gone as well. There's no way to really navigate this in the short-term and it's going to take time and patience for him to heal. That's said, he informed me last week that he wanted to be back in his own bed this week. Originally, his goal was the end of the year and we're working in therapy to help him through this. Anyway, this past weekend rolls around and he begins having tummy aches again. I figured it was anxiety related but wasn't sure about the specifics. Turns out that he was okay moving his clothes back into his and Elliott's bedroom but…

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It’s scary, frustrating, overwhelming, and also necessary

I mentioned in recent post that I was overwhelmed. If you've been reading for any length of time, that shouldn't be breaking news. I'm overwhelmed and frustrated for a million different reasons. I thought I would expand upon that some and help you better understand where I'm coming from. I know there will be people out there who totally get and some that don't. That's okay. For the life of me, I can't get the house caught up. By the time I'm in a position to get anything done I'm too exhausted to do anything. I'm crashing by 10 PM on most nights. There are so many things that need to get done but I'm either lacking the time, energy or resources to get them done. I want to do…

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I took a big step towards reclaiming my life today

Moving forward is very hard for me. I'm dealing with the loss of someone who's been a huge part of my life for literally half of my life. It's a process made more complicated because of how hard the kids are struggling with all of this. I'm with them all the time and seeing them in pain makes this so much harder for me. It's hard to grieve when I'm talking care of everyone else. Today I decided that I needed to take a big step forward. This may not seem like a huge deal but it wasn't easy for me. I did some rearranging today in order to make my bedroom mine once again. As a single Dad, I don't need two large dressers in my room, so I…

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I won’t be perfect but I’ll be better

I slept surprisingly well. Elliott is sleeping in and Emmett is up and working on his puzzle. I'm just getting moving myself but I feel much better than I did last night. I was so upset with myself for not handling Elliott better than I did but a good night's sleep has helped me to gain some perspective. Look, I'm about as far from perfect as a human being can get and I'm going to make mistakes. While I'm not proud of my actions last night, all I did was raise my voice. I didn't belittle him or anything along those lines. I was just frustrated and I lost my cool. It's going to happen. Anyway, I feel like today is a brand new day and I'm going to simply…

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I feel like such an asshole tonight

I've got a great deal weighing on me and it all came to a head tonight. I feel like shit right now because I lost my cool with Elliott tonight. Honestly, it was stupid and if I was a better person, I wouldn't have reacted the way I did. I had asked Elliott a question and I received a very teenager type response. There was some attitude and refusal to cooperate. Rather than be the only adult in the house, I tried to reason with him and it escalated rather quickly. I raised my voice to him, mostly to talk over his yelling in an attempt to get him to listen. It just didn't go well. I cursed a few times and that's something I try hard not to do…

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I’m struggling more than usual tonight

Been dealing with a lot today and haven't written at all as a result. I guess a bit of catch up is in order. I'll make it quick cause I have some other positive news to share.. The boys had the day off today. Not entirely sure why and frankly don't really care either. I love when the kids are all home. Especially, when it's not because they're sick or too upset to go to school. Everyone was in a decent place today and that is always a positive thing in my book. We don't look for or expect perfection in this house, only progress. Moving forward, regardless of speed is what we focus on instead. ☺ The kids are gone for the night visiting their mom and their grandparents.…

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Navigating #Divorce with #Autistic Kids

It's been a little while but Season 2 of The Autism Dad podcast is finally underway. I really appreciate your patience and understanding as I sorted through some difficult life events this year. In this first episode of the new season, I talk about one of those difficult life events. Divorce is difficult for any child but Autistic children can be more profoundly impacted by the massive changes that divorce brings to their lives. There are a few simple things we can do to help them survive and eventually adapt to this massive change in their lives. I'm by no means an expert, but I can share my personal experiences, as well as some commonsense advice. Remember to please share and subscribe on your favorite podcast app. ☺ This episode…

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We say goodbye to our car today

The morning is off to a fairly decent start. Everyone is willingly going to school but Elliott was very difficult wake up. I think that's caused by not sleeping well and being a teenager. Either way, it's frustrating. Anyway, it's a short week and today is the last day of school. The plan is to take the boys to school, go walking and then get to my parents house so I can scrap our old car. As you may recall, the brake lines blew in front of my parents house and it's been stuck there since. A flatbed is scheduled to arrive around 11AM and pay me a whopping $140 for the car. As much as I hated that car, it saw us through some very difficult times and I'm…

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