Family Archives - Page 241 of 553

Depression Confessions: A very personal post about managing #Depression

Today was one of those days where I seriously need a break. The holidays alone are a tremendous amount of pressure. There's parties and family get togethers that really add pressure to the cooker. If we go, the kids are going to be even more difficult to manage but if we don't go, not everyone understands. Lizze and I haven't had a night to ourselves in I don't even remember. I think we had one night off since September-ish. It's not anyone's fault and we're absolutely grateful for the times we do get away from the kids. Sometimes life happens and circumstances change. It's outside of anyone's control. At the same time, it sucks. I'm so physically exhausted and I was talking to our therapist tonight about it. I'm concerned…

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December 13, 2017

Hasn’t he already been through enough?

For the third night in a row, Gavin has struggled to go to sleep because he isn't feeling well. Last night it was a stomachache and headache. Tonight is was a stomachache again. I think we need to get him into his gastro again and this time look at gastroparesis. Lizze has this, it's genetic and it's a large part of what makes her so miserable everyday. We do have a mark in the win column tonight. Gavin did his infusion on his own once again and did a great job. I don't think his condition at bedtime was related to his infusion, but who knows. There weren't any obvious side effects and he didn't have any complaints about how it went. We do however, need to order a new…

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December 11, 2017

Elliott / My thoughts / Occupational Therapy

Why I’d pull the plug on occupational therapy

The boys had a great day at school. That's not surprising but it's always good to hear. In a little while, I'll be taking Elliott to occupational therapy, although he's going unwillingly. He doesn't like the idea of going and then worries about it until it becomes this huge obstacle. Once he gets there, he ends up having fun and getting a good workout. I wish he wasn't so anxious about it each time because it's like pulling teeth to get him out the door. If I didn't think he'd benefit from it or he wasn't cooperative while he was there, I'd probably pull the plug. There are so many kids waiting to get in and I don't want to waste a slot that someone else could benefit from. Elliott…

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December 11, 2017

Contributed / Link

How Gaming Can Bring A Family Together

This is a contributed post. The views expressed don't necessarily reflect those of The Autism Dad Blog or its author. Gaming has long been a favourite for many people. It isn’t just boys who love to spend hours in front of a monitor, it is now common for people of all genders and ages to love a good game. However, there seems to be a lot of stigma around gaming. People view it is an addiction or a lazy way of doing something. What they don’t realise is, it actually helps to bring people and families together all over the world. When we say gaming, we don’t just mean PC or console gaming. Board games are a family favourite that seem to unite everyone as a team. Sometimes it might…

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December 11, 2017

Emmett John / Inspirational Posts / My thoughts / Photography

We all have our reasons for getting up in the morning, even when it’s hard

Life isn't easy for my family. It's never been easy and there are so many times where I feel like I can't keep going on. Sometimes, the idea of getting up in the morning, only to face the same impossible challenges, is just too much. On the other side of the coin, there are moments when I'm reminded why I have to keep going. These moments help me find the strength and courage to keep moving, even when it's not easy to do so. Tonight was one of those nights. ☺

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December 11, 2017

My thoughts

This week’s agenda

This is the first week in quite awhile we don't have much on the agenda. The boys have school all week, obviously. Elliott has occupational therapy on Monday and doctors appointment on Thursday. Aside from that, it's just weekly therapy for the boys and Lizze. I was originally supposed to get the car back in because the bearings are shot and the car makes a godawful squealing sound when driving now. Unfortunately, I don't have the $200 for the parts this week. I'm super grateful that it doesn't cost more than that. I only have to pay for the parts and my awesome little bother will slap'em in place. I'm hoping that the following week will work out better. It's not a huge deal because we don't have that much…

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December 11, 2017

Motivational Monday / My thoughts / Weekly Posts

Motivational Monday: Sometimes you have to be selfish

I want to take a second of your time and ask you to really hear what I have to share right now. When you're done reading it, please pass it along. Being a parent isn't easy. Being an Autism parent is fought with even more challenges. It's so incredibly easy to become so focused on our kids, that we forget to take care of ourselves. This is especially true for Autism and Special Needs Parents. We get so caught up in trying to meet the needs of our kids, we can get tunnel vision. In other words, we put every ounce of everything we have into our kids, because our kids come first, even at our own expense. That's a very noble but misguided approach and here's why. If we…

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December 10, 2017

Gavin / My thoughts

This doesn’t happen nearly as often as it used to

Gavin's having a pretty good day so far. He seems to be functioning on all cylinders, at least for him. He woke up this morning, took his meds, cleaned his room, did the dishes and is just chilling out in his room now. He doesn't appear to be struggling as much as he was the other day. Dr. Pattie calls this the Swiss Cheese effect because sometimes, all the holes line up and Gavin shines through. Other times, the holes don't line up and we see him struggle more. Days like today are few and far between anymore. They don't come around nearly as often as they used to and so were extremely grateful when they do. ☺

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December 10, 2017