What we did with our break from the kids

I already mentioned that the boys were spending the night at their grandparents tonight. I also talked about how Lizze was in a lot of pain and I wasn't sure we were going to actually do anything while the boys were away. I remembered that Lizze has been wanting to wander around downtown Canton and take pictures of all the artwork that's popping up all over downtown. She was a bit hesitant at first because simply existing hurt and walking around would likely make it worse, but she decided to give it a shot anyway. Below are the pictures I took while we were out. [foogallery id="82184"] This was a great way to spend some quality time together. We don't get much time to ourselves and that can take a…

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What do you do when the kids are gone?

The boys have left to spend the night with their grandparent's. That's a pretty awesome thing because Lizze and I are feeling burnt-out. I was thinking that we would go do something but Lizze is in too much pain to really go anywhere. Even if she could, I'm not sure what we would do. Nothing really sounds super exciting and I'm not feeling up to walking today. There is a Chipotle gift card burning a hole in my pocket. Maybe we'll grab some dinner and shut ourselves in for the night. The bottomline is that we have time to ourselves. That doesn't happen very often and I want to make the most out of it cause we need to recharge our batteries while they're gone.

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How my family, friends, readers, followers and @TMobile made this the best birthday ever

When you're an Autism family, you have to expect that things will rarely go as planned. It's simply the reality of the life we've been blessed with. Today was no exception to that rule but while it was frustrating at times, it was the perfect 40th birthday. All the chaos from today is just the way our life is. I lost track of the meltdowns and other Autism related challenges. If my birthday were what most people would consider to be perfect, it simply wouldn't be my life and while my life isn't easy, I'm quite fond of it. I'm super grateful for today and I'm doing much better emotionally than I thought I would. We had pizza while watching a new show called Magic for Humans on Netflix for…

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Nothing is going as planned and here’s why that’s okay

Well, today isn't going quite as planned but nothing in our life ever rally does and that's okay. The boys got off to school okay but I was too tired to go walking. Emmett had another nightmare and I ended up on the couch, barely getting any sleep. My Mom was going to hangout with Gavin, so Lizze and I could go to Chipotle for lunch but Lizze isn't feeling well. Even if she was, Gavin's not in a good place today and sending him anywhere would be irresponsible for a couple of reasons. He's being very difficult and has been having meltdowns since he finished his IVIG infusion. The poor kid is really stressed out and we're beating our heads into the wall trying to understand why. Lizze is…

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How this #Autism Dad will celebrate his 40th birthday

The moment I've been dreading has arrived. I'm 40 years old. I've now been alive for four decades. I'm not sure how I feel about this but at the same time, it doesn't appear to be the end of the world either. I thought it might be interesting see how this Autism Dad, celebrates his birthday. It's different than most but different isn't always a bad thing. We don't really have anything crazy planned and I'm okay with that. All I really wanted to do was get a Chipotle burrito but I promised Emmett we would do Hungry Howies pizza instead. He has a coupon for a free personal pizza he hasn't been able to use yet and he was really upset about that the other day. I promised him…

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So this is what it’s come to

There comes a point in everyones life where you to take pause and ask yourself a very important question. How the fuck did we get here? I had one such moment this morning. As I was eating breakfast, Gavin comes into the room and begins talking about his poop. He has absolutely no sense of this is horribly inappropriate to talk about while someone is eating. We need him to tell us if there's a problem, so we told him to tell us everything and we'll decide if it's important or not. Gavin took that literally and we went from struggling to get any information from him to struggling to help him understand that there's a time amd a place. I'm half listening to him and half trying to block…

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It’s already overwhelming

The boys got off to school this morning without too much hassle. Emmett however, is very clearly distressed by all the changes to his routine and schedule. We're seeing tummy aches and nightmares again already. He loves school but at the same time, it's very stressful for him. When Emmett gets stressed out, he doesn't cope well with the world around him. Coping with the world at large can be difficult for any kid with Autism and Emmett is no exception. We're seeing an increase in meltdowns and he can go from zero to full on freak out in nothing flat. It's stressful for those around him but it's especially true for Emmett because he's the one experiencing this high level of distress first hand. As an example, it wasn't…

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Should I take this as a sign?

I wanted to share something I thought was pretty cool. I get that it's a total coincidence but at the same time, I found it comforting and sorta symbolic. As I was leaving the therapist last night, I had just finished revisiting one of the most painful moments of my life. It involved a call I was on during my time as a medic. As a relatively seasoned or experienced medic, I saw lots of things that most people can only imagine. I had to sorta become callus to death in order to protect myself. It was the calls involving children, especially in horrific circumstances that my brain simply couldn't process and my heart couldn't bare. Anyway, that topic was one of the things that came up last night. I…

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