I’m in a relationship with depression and it f@cking sucks

If you're new to the neighborhood, you might be interested to know that I like to speak very openly about mental health. I'm a firm believer in the there's nothing to be ashamed of approach.  Over the years I've spoken very candidly about our Autism journey and every other thing that we've found in our life path.  When it comes to myself, I'm no exception. I've been warring with depression since my early teens and I'm not ashamed to speak to my experience.  Now that we've been introduced, let's get down to business.  Depression is kicking my ass right now. I'm taking my meds, speaking to a psychologist and I'm generally a positive person but right now it just doesn't matter.  My relationship with depression, and it is a relationship,…

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Thank God it’s the thought that counts

Both boys had a great day at school. They celebrated Valentine's Day and made out like little bandits. I got Lizze some chocolates and a this stuffed animal weiner dog.  Thank God we subscribe to the whole it's the thought that counts philosophy because she broke out in hives within minutes of coming into contact with it the stuffed dog.  😲 Gavin's having a challenging day and I've just about gone bankrupt in the patience department but he's had worse. He's trying and that awesome.  In a little bit, we will be in another family therapy session with Dr. Pattie and I've promised the boys the last if they cooperate, we'll have pizza for dinner. So far so good on that front..  ☺ 

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#Autism Parenting and the battle with insomnia 

I fought a losing battle with insomnia once again last night but I did fall asleep around 4 am and I'm grateful for at least getting that..  ☺  Lizze didn't sleep well either and ended up downstairs at some point because she needed to sleep propped up and that's much easier on the couch.  While she was downstairs, Emmett climbed into our bed and glued himself to my arm, at some point after I did finally fall asleep.  As a result of all this lack of sleep, we got a late start and things didn't go as smoothly as they could have. Emmett in particular, had a very unpleasant meltdown, not that any meltdowns are pleasant. He did however, get off to school with his shoes and socks in place.…

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How I know when it’s best to keep my son with #Autism home from school

At the advice of one of my readers, who suggested providing more insight into the how's and why's of our life, I thought I would take that advice and begin with a decision we often struggle with, every single morning.  I want to take a few minutes and explain what goes into deciding whether or not we keep Emmett home from school. This may seem like a weird topic but I know many parents in my situation, likely struggle with the same thing.  Emmett is our youngest of three with Autism, at eight years of age.  He's profoundly impacted by sensory processing disorder. He struggles with things coming into contact with his skin. Wearing clothes, shoes, socks or anything else can be very, very uncomfortable for him. In fact, it…

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Here’s my day so far

So far, today's been a total wash. I think it was probably doomed from the get go because I had insomnia once again last night. Truth be told, I was dragging after getting Elliott to school.  Another nail in the coffin is the fact that both Emmett and Lizze are sick.  Gavin fell asleep after his morning meds and I sent Lizze back to bed when I got back from taking Elliott to school. I spent some time working on rebuilding my photo gallery on this site, using the native WordPress gallery feature, so I could get rid of the plugin I was using, while Emmett snuggled me.  I soon hit a wall and crashed with Emmett for a bit.  Feeling much better after waking up, sorta cancles out the…

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At least one of them made it to school 

I had the hardest time falling asleep last night and didn't do so until almost 4 am. There wasn't anything wrong other than not being able to shut my brain off.  There were so many thoughts racing through my head and I couldn't process them all. I did squeak out a few hours in the end and I'm happy-ish with that for now.  All things considered, I'm doing pretty awesome this morning. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for everyone else.  Lizze is on day two of being sick but at least she's in good company now. Very early on this morning, she was joined by Mr. Emmett, who isn't feeling well either.  He's experiencing a double whammy. The main issue this morning was nausea, likely related to nasal drip.…

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Emmett’s fever flares may have returned 

On Saturday night, Emmett began complaining of his mouth hurting. When I checked it out for him, I found a rather large mouth sore on the inside of his lip.  This may end up being nothing more than a random cold sore but Emmett's never had random cold sores. When these painful little things show up, it's always been because he was entering into a fever flare.  He's been really, really grumpy today and hasn't been eating much. All of these things are classic signs of a flare but he hasn't had one since early last year...  🙁  We'll have to see how he's doing in the morning before we know how school will be handled. If he's in pain, we can kiss him wearing shoes and socks goodbye because…

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I drank 72 ounces of water today. Is that enough? 

This is totally random but has been the topic of debate between my wife and I. Feel free to weigh in and share your experience or knowledge.  Here's the question...  How much water should the average person drink in a given day?  This is a really important question because how much water you consume in a day can have a significant impact on your overall health and wellness. The problem is, there's so much conflicting information out there and it's tough to know the good info from the bad.  The rule used to be, drink eight, eight ounce glasses of water a day. Now the new recommendation is to drink half of your boy weight in ounces a day.  I don't know about you but getting 64 ounces of water…

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