The boys finally slept through the night and I was able to sleep in my own bed. I was in bed by midnight and up at 7AM. Lizze was on her way to class before we were up, but I was able to get the boys to school without any significant effort. I felt recharged enough to go walking with Gavin, after dropping the boys off... ☺ I'm feeling pretty good about today... ☺
I asked Gavin to draw another picture today. I do this because I want to pull him away from his tablet, and have him work on something he used to really enjoy. Gavin loves sketching, but has gotten away from it this year, for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is that he's spending too much time on his tablet, and that's something I can influence. Another reason is very likely the result of his tremors. Gavin has tremors in his hands, and it's pretty significant. I'm slowly working to get him back into drawing because if he doesn't practice, he's more likely to lose the skills. Here's today's drawing from Mr. Gavin... ☺
Folks, I'm burned out. It's been about twenty-four hours since I've written anything. It's important to understand that while I'm physically and emotionally exhausted, I'm not giving up on anything. One of the things I've learned on my Autism Parenting journey is, that I have no idea what tomorrow has in store. No matter how bad today has been, as long as I live to see tomorrow, there's always hope. It's so easy to get lost on this treacherous, exhausting, overwhelming, and all consuming journey. I've found myself lost many times along the way. In fact, that's where the title of my first blog came from. I felt lost and tired, especially in the beginning. I can totally relate to what many of you are going through. Sometimes, the only…
I've had a longer day than normal today. I already shared that I was up with Emmett last night because his nose was really stuffy. You might be saying to yourself, everyone's nose gets stuffy, why is that a big deal? To put it simply, it's a sensory thing. Emmett has never done well with a stuffy nose. I don't know what he experiences when his nose is stuffy, but if it's in line with the way his brain perceives many other stimuli, it's a nightmare for him. Last night, he finally fell asleep while snuggling on the couch. He had found a position he was comfortable enough in to fall asleep. Unfortunately for me, that position was partly on the couch and partly across my chest. I was pinned…
I feel so much better after a nap. I need a night where I can manage a solid eight hours. It's been awhile since I've had one of those. I'm getting ready to go pick up Emmett from school and take him to occupational therapy. It's been a long time since he's been there. Between fever cycles and the OT having a family emergency, it's been well over a month since his last appointment. Emmett is so excited about going back...
Last night was a nightmare. Mr. Emmett didn't go to sleep until well after midnight. It was one meltdown after another until he fell asleep. All of this because of a stuffy nose. To recap, a stuffy nose turned our lives upside down, until well after midnight last night. Emmett and I ended up falling asleep in the living room because I didn't want to him to wake the other boys up. Lizze had to be up super early, in order to go to class, so I was nominated to manage this situation last night. I'm so tired today and I'm going to have to close my eyes for a little while. If I wasn't already tired enough, I would be after trying to get Emmett ready for school. It…
I've been in an awesome mood all day, but I have one pubecent pre-teen who's been copping a major attitude lately. I haven't talked about this much because..... Truthfully, I don't know why I haven't talked about this. For all the Autism related challenges I face on a daily basis, sometimes life sprinkles some more typical problems in as well, just for fun. Puberty is apparently one of those things. Lizze and I have been dealing with horrible attitude and lots of mood swings. This is part of the reason that we are watching for signs of Bipolar disorder. The mood swings are especially difficult, but the attitude is a close second. Just to be clear, no one's labeling him with anything other than annoying pre-teen behavior however, there is…
Lizze is hanging out with her Mom for a bit, while the boys and I go from the school to the Garden Center. We of course, made a brief stop home to pick up Pokémon Go equipment before heading off to hunt. Some of these Pokémon are hard to find. It would be really interesting to go overlanding or off roading and see what we can find. Lizze and I used to do that when we first met. Obviously, Pokémon go wasn't around then but the off roading part was so much fun. Anyway........ I'm really happy that Lizze got a chance to spend some time with her Mom. Lizze doesn't leave the house all the often because of social anxiety. She's not spent time with her Mom like this…