Elliott and Emmett are both consumed with the idea of getting a ferret. For the record, that's not happening anytime soon, if ever. Yesterday afternoon, Elliott created a ferret out of Legos and gave it to me as a present. I was telling the boys about the pet ferret I had when I was in college and Elliott thought he would make me something to remind of my one time pet.
All too often when a marriage fails and kids are involved, things can get pretty ugly. You see it on the news with celebrities all the time. The normal, everyday people are no different. They just don't make the news. When my wife left last year, it was unexpected and I was devastated. While there are justifiable reasons for me to be angry, resentful and betrayed, especially considering that I'm now raising our three kids with special needs by myself, I'm not. You hear all the time how people end up using their kids as weapons to get at each other. You hear about parents talking bad about their former partner in front of the children. These things are horrible but they happen all too often. That being said, when…
Elliott is really struggling with anxiety today. The loss of the two baby squirrels really sorta made ripples in his pond. As the day has worn on, those ripples have grown into waves. Waves are actually a really good way to describe how anxiety hits him because it just sorta pours over him. You can see it as it's happening.. 😟 When he was crying this morning after the loss of the second baby squirrel, he kept saying, First I lost Mom. Then I lost Bella and now these babies. I have nothing left to lose.. That just broke my heart but clearly he's struggling with loss on multiple levels and it's impacting him quite profoundly. For the latter half of the day, he's been trying to get me to…
It was a morning of mixed emotions here in The Autism Dad house. We tried so very hard to keep the little baby squirrels alive through the night so they could be taken to the Wildlife Center at Sippo Lake this morning. The Xbox kept them warm and toasty throughout the night and pedialyte kept them hydrated. Unfortunately, we lost one before bedtime and another one at some-point during the night. When we woke up this morning, only two were still alive. Elliott and Emmett were heartbroken once again but we put aside our grief long enough to finish the job we'd started the night before.m We successfully delivered two baby squirrels to the Sanders Wildlife Center at Sippo Lake by 8:15am this morning. I explained to the…
I wanted to share this cool picture that Emmett did while in therapy tonight. I believe this is called a Blaze and its from Minecraft. He worked really hard on this and I think it's pretty darn amazing. I love my kids artwork because I can see pieces of who they are inside their creative endeavors. Beautiful artwork Emmett. Daddy's very proud of you. ❤️👍
Poor Elliott's heart was broken again tonight. 😔 The boys had therapy tonight with Dr. Pattie. When we got home, Elliott found what would turn out to be a baby squirrel. In fact, there would be a total of 4 newborn baby squirrels found. Apparently, they had fallen about 40 feet out of the nest and landed on the sidewalk. Frankly, it's pretty miraculous that they survived in the first place. These little guys are way to young for me to try and take on myself but we got them wrapped up in a warm blanket and safely stored in the house for the night. I'm raising my kids to cherish all life and that includes helpless baby squirrels. In the morning, they will be going to the…
As the rates of Autism continues to skyrocket, the likely hood of you knowing someone that is a special needs parent is growing as well. Maybe you already know someone with a special needs child. Perhaps, a friend or family member. In this article, I hope to give you some simple ways that you can help the special needs parent in your life. Knowing what to say or do can be daunting for someone that doesn't have experience with special needs parenting. This is probably where many people, with the best of intentions, get scared off. Seeing what a special needs parent goes through can be a very overwhelming experience for anyone. It may even seem so dire that one might feel that they have nothing to offer, that could…
We have a sorta major schedule change for Mr. Emmett today. We've switched over to the school schedule for his physical therapy today. Normally he goes to therapy on Wednesdays at 1pm but with school coming soon, we needed to make the switch to a more sustainable school schedule. Therapy will be on Tuesday afternoons now and he'll have to be pulled from school early, once it starts. That being said, it will be at the end of the day and shouldn't disrupt anything significant. The school is amazing at working with me so I know everything will work out. The only fly in the ointment, so to speak, is the physical change from one day and time to another. Kids with Autism tend to dislike change and Emmett is…