When to hold a special needs child accountable 

I love having the boys home but I hate these four-day weekends because they totally throw me off the following week. All day today I thought it was Sunday because the boys were home from school. I'll end up being a day off for most of the week.  😁  Putting that aside, I think we had a pretty good extended weekend.  We didn't have the money to really go anywhere but we took the kids walking,  three out of the last four days. In total, we did about five or six miles and that's pretty good.  Emmett was in flipflops because he wouldn't tolerate his shoes but he only had a couple of issues within that five or six miles, where his feet were bothering him.  I'm hoping to make…

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We had such and awesome day today

We had a really awesome day. Aside from a few hiccups discussed in an earlier post, by all accounts we had a great day.  Lizze and I took the boys walking again today, right before dinner.  Unfortunately, we were competing with dusk and had to cut our walk short but I took all that into account when planning our turn around point. We ended up walking 2.02 miles and I didn't have to carry anyone. ☺  Emmett only had one my foot feels funny incident during the entire walk and that's awesome.   Our goal is to head out earlier in the day tomorrow and not so close to sundown. We'd like to do this as often as the weather allows because we're working on a healthier lifestyle and walking…

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Why I sent my #specialneeds son to his room

It's been one of those days were Gavin being Gavin has really been challenging for me. It's not his fault and I'm not angry with him at all but I am frustrated, exhausted and overwhelmed.  The issue for me is that he's not functioning at a very high level today and he's creating more work for me as a result. I'm having to constantly chase after him, keep him from hurting himself in accident and the repetition.. OMG the repetition..  Some of you will understand that statement, some of you will be empathetic and others will think I'm putting Gavin down. The reality is that I'm voicing my frustrations over a situation I'm currently existing in. Speaking about my feelings, has absolutely no impact on whether or not I love…

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Very Important Update About Gavin

It's been a trying day but I've learned one thing that I believe I can say with absolute confidence, Gavin off of Lithium is NOT a good thing.  I'm sure Lizze will put her two cents in at some point but having discussed this last night, I know she agrees. I suppose I should clarify that Gavin hasn't stopped taking Lithium completely but his dose has been cut in half and it's very clearly no longer effective. The purpose of doing this was to try and clear up some of his confusion. It's possible that being on the Lithium for ten years, in combination with the Clozapine, created a high level of confusion. Anyway, his dose was cut in half for thirty days in order to see if this was…

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Here’s some pictures from today

It's been a really long day. I was up with a sick Emmett last night and now I'm up with a sick Elliott tonight.  I promise I'll get some writing done soon but until then, I thought I would at least share some pictures from our day. These pictures span across most of the day and aside from Elliott being sick, everything was positive.  I'll work on getting caught up after I get some sleep. 

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Staring down the barrel of a four day weekend 

The boys are off of school for the next four days. There's teachers conferences on Friday, and of course, Monday's a holiday. I'm not entirely sure what we're going to do with all this extra family time but we'll figure something out.  I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a part of me a little worried about how this is gonna go because we're not off to a good start...  A few minutes ago, Mr. Emmett came walking into our room, scared the shit out of me and proceeded to attach himself to my person because he wasn't feeling good.  He's miserable and so we moved to the living room. Doing this provides him with some comfort, as well as the best chance of sleep.. ☺  Four days of…

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All about raising a child with complex health issues and school

My wife and I face many challenges in our life. At the moment, one of those challenges centers around our youngest, Emmett. Emmett is eight years old and absolutely loves going to school. He loves learning and excels academically.  Unfortunately, Emmett faces challenges that interfere with his ability to attend school sometimes.  Between Autism, Anxiety, Sensory Processing issues and a rare fever disorder called PFAPA, we never know of what's going to happen.  The sensory issues alone are more than a handful at times. Sensory issues impact people in different ways, and in Emmett's case, eating and wearing clothes present a multitude of challenges. The one that will keep him home from school the most often has to do with not tolerating anything on his feet.  The other most common…

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Emmett’s Fever Flares have returned

I had a really tough time falling asleep last night. I wasn't even feeling stressed out or anything like that. I just couldn't get comfortable and ended up moving to the couch about 4 am.  Anyway, Emmett has up on and off last night. In fact, he's been this way for the last few nights.  This morning when it came time to get ready for school, we finally pieced together why he's been struggling more than usual. It's a fever flare.  I mentioned earlier in the week that we could be looking at one but I wasn't going to jump to conclusions or possibly even jinx anyone by making that suggestion out loud.  Today however, Emmett is actually running a fever and can't go to school. Truthfully, I don't think…

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