Parenting Archives - Page 64 of 720

Focusing on the positive helps me remember that #depression is lying to me

I'm very much in a darker place right now but I'm also refusing to give into depression. Fighting depression is an imperfect, uphill battle that's part of an invisible overarching war that I've been engaged in for most of my life. Part of my battle tactic is to force myself to focus on the positive things in my life. Depression tells me there's nothing positive but I know that's not true. There are three amazing little humans in my life and that's the most positive thing I can imagine. I'm going to share some pretty cool things my kids did today. Gavin's life is challenging for him but this kid never fucking gives up. This morning he was up before everyone else, which is normal for him. He focused on…

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August 24, 2020

Confessions / Depression Management / My thoughts

I can’t shake the #depression today

I can't really explain why but I'm struggling today. I'm feeling defeated and demoralized. Nothing happened outside of really bad dreams last night. Honestly, I think it's probably just a new battle with depression. By new I just mean a resurgence. There's a great deal of stress in my life right now and I'm getting overwhelmed by it all. I'm turning 42 years old on the 24th of August and I wish things in my life were different. I live in a bad neighborhood that I can't seem to get us out of. In 12 days, it would have been my 17th anniversary but instead, I find myself alone with my kids, as we try to survive a global pandemic. My kids are amazing and I love them completely. At…

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August 23, 2020

COVID19 / Distance Learning / Lockdown / My thoughts / Planning / School

We persevered this week

It's been a crazy stressful week but I'm so proud of how we persevered. The boys ultimately made it through their first week of distance learning and even exceeded their hours for the week. Their experience has been improving and while Elliott is still having technical issues, Emmett seems to be experiencing fewer. For the most part, we tried keeping to their previous school schedule but it didn't always work. What I've found was that giving the boys a little freedom over how their day is managed, seems to motivate them. Obviously, I can't let them loose but if they start at 10am instead of 9am, who cares. As long as they complete their work, that's all that matters. One of the coolest things about distance learning is that if…

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August 22, 2020

COVID19 / Lockdown / My thoughts / Planning

It’s grocery day

Today is grocery day in The Autism Dad household. It's everyone's favorite day of the week for obvious reasons. I try to time grocery delivery for once every week or week and a half. It's tough to keep groceries in the house but I manage. I want to give a huge shout-out to all of the delivery people who make this possible for my family and all the other families out there like mine. I'm so grateful for everything.

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August 21, 2020

General Update / My thoughts

It’s been a really shitty week and I’m down but not out

This week has been pretty rough, and that's by our standards. Thus far school has been a technical frustration for the boys and they're quickly forming an opinion that will be difficult to work through. The boys are very turned off to school at this point and there are only so many battles I can pick right now. I need this to work. Admittedly, I'm really frustrated with it myself and have questioned whether or not we chose the right school. I will say that the school staff seems really cool. I've spent a good bit of time on the phone with various teachers and administrators this week. Everyone is super nice and wanting the boys to have the best experience possible. These technical issues will hopefully be resolved in…

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August 21, 2020

Distance Learning / My thoughts / School

Emmett finally got into his first live lesson

I'm not gonna lie. Distance learning has not been a positive experience thus far, but today is a new day. Elliott and Emmett are back at it and giving it yet another shake. Thus far, Elliott's been met with more frustration and technical issues but Emmett seems to be doing pretty good. He's currently in his first live lesson. They haven't been working but he was able to login today. Fingers crossed. So far so good for Mr. Emmett. Elliott was only able to get some of his work done because the rest wouldn't load. The plan is to try again in a couple of hours. The school sent a message saying that due to all the problems, the next 2 weeks will not count against the kids. We're using…

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August 19, 2020

COVID19 / Distance Learning / My thoughts / Planning / School

Day 2 of Distance Learning Has Been A Nightmare

We just finished up the 2nd day of distance learning and it's been a disaster. The school appears to be over capacity and struggling to meet the demand. Yesterday was full of connectivity issues and today has been the same. We are getting messages that too many kids are trying to log in to the same live lesson and therefore Emmett was unable to gain access. Elliott tried to do his live session but the audio went out and the video kept freezing. I totally get that things happen and that they may be able to get these issues fixed. I get that. My concern is that autistic kids tend to generalize and their very first experiences with distance learning have been negative and frustrating. I'll be honest and say…

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August 18, 2020

Link / Sponsored Post

It’s Time To Look After Your Kids’ Teeth

Oral hygiene includes all the actions for the care of the teeth such as the removal of the microbial plaque and the maintenance of an environment that prevents the manifestation of diseases of the teeth, the gums and the oral cavity in general. For your kids, keeping their teeth healthy for as long as possible is going to be vital. During these times, going to the dentist has been prohibited but it’s even more important, during Covid, to look after your kids’ teeth. Once it is safe to go outside, you should bring your kids to see a dentist for professional care. Kids can be tough to convince to go to the dentist, mainly because they think dentists and general doctors are the same; the fear of doctors surpasses kids;…

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August 15, 2020