Sensory Archives - Page 52 of 471

What it means to be a father and why I adopted my son

A good portion of you probably don't know this because I don't advertise it, but exactly 11 years ago today, my life changed forever. Shortly before lunch on October 22, 2008, I stood before Judge Dixie Park, sobbing like a baby, barely able to mutter a word, as I officially adopted Gavin. He didn't understand what was going on, but Lizze and I certainly did. For those who don't know, Gavin is Lizze's son from her first marriage. I've been raising him as my own since he was just over a year old. Every year I share the letter I wrote the judge, explaining who I was, who Gavin was, and why I wanted to adopt him. I'll let the letter speak for itself. Have a great night.. ☺ October…

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October 23, 2019

Link / Sponsored Post

Ultimate Guide To Changing Your Child’s Surname

When a child is born to married parents, things are somewhat simple. Either one or both of them usually register the child’s name on the birth certificate. The surname is the name by which the actual family unit is recognized, and it is common for children to take their father’s surname. That is, except the mother suggests a different surname, and the father agrees to this. However, with unmarried fathers, things are a bit different. They don’t have to register the birth of their children and don’t have an independent right to have their names on the child’s birth certificate. If an unmarried mother wishes to enter the father’s name, that’s only possible if they both agree, and sign the register, each gives a sworn statement, or they have an…

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October 22, 2019

My thoughts

This needs to be super quick

I'm exhausted and going to sleep soon, so this needs to be quick. We had a pretty awesome day here in The Autism Dad house. We had some challenges but we all rose to the occasion and made it through. I had two podcast interviews today and while one was met with some tech issues, it's rescheduled for next week. I'm looking forward to that. The second one was with my friend Lindsay from therarediseasemom.com. It was a fantastic conversation and it should air on Friday. For the most part, the kids did well today and I'm always grateful for days like this. I'm feeling optimistic about the week and ready to take on whatever it through my direction. ☺

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October 21, 2019

Family Time / My thoughts

I took the kids on an adventure…sort of

The kids and I had a pretty good afternoon. I wanted to take the them hiking and ultimately decided on the John T Huston - Dr John D Brumbaugh Nature Center. It was about a 30 minute drive but it was pretty amazing. We'd never been there before and didn't know what to expect. My main goal was to get them some exercise and keep them distracted for a little while. Our hike only lasted about 2 miles cause we were concerned about running out of daylight. The kids did great and there was a lot of elevation change throughout the hike, so it was a bit more difficult than they're used to. We had a lot of fun and everyone is exhausted. Sleep should be good tonight. On the…

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October 21, 2019

Inspirational Posts / My thoughts

A little overcompensation here and a little overcompensation there

So I've been avoiding talking about specifically what caused my marriage to implode and that's not going to change. Truthfully, there's a great deal I still don't understand myself and probably never will. Having said that, I do feel that it's fair and even important to speak about what I'm personally experiencing as a single parent because there's others out there going through similar things. Please don't read into anything because nothing I say is intended to be subtext. If you read last night's post, it was pretty clear that I was not in a good place. I was hurt, frustrated and even a little angry, but not at my kids. Thankfully, today has been a better day thus far. One of the things I'm struggling with is overcompensation. It's…

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October 20, 2019

Confessions / My thoughts

It f*cking hurts to know that I’m not enough

We've had a busy day and while it's been mostly positive, there are some things that have my stress and anxiety through the roof. Okay. So the kids had a birthday party this afternoon and it was really nice. Emmett's friend is a sweet kid and his family is pretty amazing as well. It was fun and actual adult company is sorely lacking in my life. The bad news starts with Elliott dropping his phone at the party and shattering the screen. He's absolutely beside himself and has been in a horrible mood since it happened. He cannot cope with loss right now and this feels like a major loss to him. The yellow lines run alongside the cracks to show where they are. Some of the cracks are raised,…

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October 19, 2019

Family Time / My thoughts

My kids should have fun today and that makes me happy

We have a pretty fun day planned. Emmett has a birthday party to attend and Elliott and Gavin are welcome to attend as well. We're ready to go as soon as the laundry is done and it will be done in plenty of time. The kids don't have a visit this weekend because we're trying to work into a more regular schedule. This is a very complicated situation and not easy to navigate. It's very important that we get the kids on a regular schedule as soon as possible. Beyond that, I think I'll take the kids hiking tomorrow, assuming the weather holds up. I'm trying to keep them as active as possible and that's taking some creativity. The only thing everyone can typically agree on is hiking. If I…

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October 19, 2019

My thoughts

It could absolutely be worse

It's been a difficult year for my family. We lost two beloved family members and have faced some recent changes in our lives that have been very painful. Everyone is coping in their own way and healing in their own time. In Gavin's case, his condition has been to his advantage. He just accepts whatever he's told and therefore he's actually in a pretty good place. That's definitely a blessing. Anyway, the whole point of this is that there are a million reasons to be miserable right now. Truthfully, there are times that I am and I think that's to be expected. At the same time, I never want to lose focus of the positive because it's a slippery slope. As I'm sitting here, I'm paying attention to the positive…

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October 18, 2019