EVERYTHING IN LIFE IS RELATIVE: If you’re a special needs parent, please read and share this

I want to be straight up and completely real here for a minute. Not that I do anything but that anyway. 😉

I love hearing from my readers, be it here or on Facebook, etc. Two of the things that I get asked quite a bit are the following.

How in the world do I maintain my sanity? How do I not run out of patience with my kids and their challenging behavior?

These questions are usually preempted by something like I only have one child with Autism or SPD or ADHD or Anxiety, and I struggle.

Something that’s really important to understand is that every single situation is different. Everyone is facing unique challenges, and we all have different thresholds for things.

I don’t have any super powers that prevents me from losing my mind while raising three boys with Autism, ADHD, Anxiety and fragile health on my own as a single Dad. I’m just as human as the next person, and I have my limits as well.

The thing with me is that I work very hard at understanding my limits, recognizing them and whenever possible, removing myself from the equation for a brief period when I feel myself reaching that threshold. That’s the biggest trick in my arsenal.

Writing about everything the way I do helps as well. It’s helped me to process everything, regain perspective and feel like I’m making something positive come out of a very challenging situation.

The other thing to keep in mind is that I’ve been doing this for a very long time. It’ll be 15 years as a special needs parent pretty soon.

I honestly don’t remember anything else.

I don’t remember what it’s like to not have to struggle with everything. I don’t even know what it’s like to cook one meal for breakfast, lunch or dinner and have everyone be able to eat it. As it stands, I typically prepare at least three different meals to feed everyone and often have to remake something over and over because of slight imperfections.