Why teamwork is crucial to #Autism Parenting

One of the most important lessons I've learned as an Autism parent is that this shit is hard. I used to run into burning houses and rescue people from horrible car wrecks for a living. I'm here to say that all those things pale in comparison to any given day as Autism parent, at least in my experience. Having done the Autism parenting thing as a single parent for almost two years, I can say that I have nothing but respect for those who walk this journey alone because they are easily among the strongest people I can imagine. Having said that, this post is not focused on single parenting. There are huge advantages to sharing the load when it comes to being an Autism parent. If you're among those…

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Hanging out with my kids

The boys were up early once again. This is beginning to become a habit.  I got up with them between 6am and 7am. Everyone's in a good mood and that's always a great way to begin the day.   Gavin's in the middle of his IVIG infusion this morning because we didn't get to it last night. So far, he's doing great with it.   I let Lizze sleep in while the boys and I hung out watching Ant Man.  There really aren't any plans for today. My main and most ambitious goal is survival. Anything that goes above and beyond that lofty goal is just a bonus..  ☺ 

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A lengthy and important update

I thought I would share a general update on how my family is doing overall and anything new that's worth mentioning. I guess one of the biggest bits of news is that Elliott and Emmett are off of all their medications, except one for their ADHD. Their ADHD medication really helps them to sorta slow their brains down and more easily manage things in their day to day lives. Working with their doctor, we've pulled them both off of their anti-anxiety medications and pulled Elliott off of his anti-depressants. The reason for this is because most of these medications were started during the before [the 18 month period of time when Lizze and I were separated and I was raising them on my own] because their lives had been turned…

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How my son is driving me crazy

I'm going to be very honest. Gavin is driving me absolutely crazy today. It's not his fault but his behaviors are just getting under my skin today. There're a couple of newer things that seem to be problematic for him and they do seem to be of a more frustrating nature for me personally. Of course, we have the typical incessant talking, bragging about his superhuman abilities and how he's saved the universe again. These things take a toll on me after awhile, especially when I'm already stressed out a million other things. There are some newer things that he's doing or rather not doing that are adding to the mix. His short term memory is seemingly nonexistent anymore. Short term memory has never really been his strong suit but it's never been…

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It’s not as bad as it was

It's proving to be a decent day here in The Autism Dad household. We're watching a movie with the boys and Gavin's sleeping off his morning medications still.  Lizze might be venturing out into the Black Friday craziness with her Mom after dinner.  The boys and I just might go Pokémon hunting at some point but it's really cold out.  Anyway, things have been improving since this morning and for that I'm grateful.. ☺ 

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Feeling Rundown

Elliott's been incredibly animated this morning for some reason.  He's all over the place and frankly, driving me crazy. I'm feeling a bit rundown today and not wanting to do much of anything. Even though we had a pretty awesome day yesterday, it was still stressful and exhausting. I'm probably just needing to recover a bit. I hope everyone is doing well and if you're venturing out into the madness of Black Friday, be careful... ☺

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Nothing went as planned but that isn’t necessarily bad

Things being as they are in our lives, nothing went as planned today. Elliott had a terrible time falling asleep last night and both he and Emmett were up and fighting before the hour of 5am. After a little while, Lizze and sat up in bed, knowing where the day was heading. Today was already stressful for a number of reasons and based on how the kids started the day, we began to reconsider our plans for the rest of the day. We kept going back and forth about how to handle this Thanksgiving holiday because we really wanted to at least make an appearance at the festivities on both sides of our family. It was decided that we would take a wait and see approach to things. As the morning went on,…

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Our first Thanksgiving together since my wife and I reconciled

I apologize a head of time for any typos. My eye's are rolling into the back of my head as I'm finishing this. I'm correct any grammar blemishes in the morning. For those who are new here, this Thanksgiving is the first Thanksgiving or holiday for that matter, that we will be spending as a family in almost two years. Lizze and I went through a separation for about 18 months and only reconciled this past June. Things are great between her and I. The separation really had nothing to do with issues between her and I but rather what we've recently learned was caretaker burnout. There's more to the story than that but that pretty much sums it up. It was a difficult time for everyone, especially the boys. I really…

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