Read more about the article I almost had to kick in my son’s bedroom door tonight
Autism Parenting Struggles / Emmett John / My thoughts

I almost had to kick in my son’s bedroom door tonight

We had an incident tonight that sorta derailed our evening. I had assigned everyone a chore to do after we got home from dinner. They were all simple things like feeding the dog and changing the trash. I asked Emmett to split up the new bottle of hand sanitizer between the bathroom and the kitchen. We buy a large bottle and use that to refill the two smaller bottles we have in the house. Anyway, Emmett ended having a rough time for some reason. He had spilled some on the front of the new bottle, and because there's alcohol in it, the ink on the label bled. He was doing this in the bathtub for some reason, and the ink left blue marks all over the bottom of the tub.…

1 Comment
April 30, 2019
Read more about the article So far so good
Akron Children's Hospital / My thoughts / Pediatrics / Psychiatry

So far so good

We've made it halfway through the day, and things have actually gone smoothly. Emmett's back at school, and we're in the waiting room at Akron Children's Hospital for Elliott's appointment. A huge thank you goes out to Lizze's Mom because she was willing to hang out with Gavin after he was done with his blood work. This way we didn't have to drag him around with us all day. It wouldn't have been fun for him, and I needed a break from his constant updates about his new Keyblade. We'll get Elliott some lunch and then head back to pick up the kids when we're done here. We have family therapy at 5 PM, and then we're going to meet my family for dinner. That's a last minute thing, but…

1 Comment
April 30, 2019
Read more about the article The incessant talking is slowly eroding my sanity
My thoughts

The incessant talking is slowly eroding my sanity

It's going to be a hectic day. We have four appointments to get to, and the logistics are a bit challenging. Emmett has an appointment for his legs this morning. We will drop Elliott off at school and head straight to Akron Children's. Lizze and I will need to divide and conquer because, on the way to Emmett's appointment, we have to drop Gavin at the lab to get his blood drawn for the week. After we're done, we'll drop Emmett off at school and likely head home for a short time before returning to the school for Elliott. From there we head to Akron for a few hours. Lizze's Mom is going to pick up Emmett at school, and we'll probably pick him up on the way home. We…

2 Comments
April 30, 2019
Read more about the article Just added a 3rd doctors appointment this week
Akron Children's Hospital / Emmett John / My thoughts / Pediatrics

Just added a 3rd doctors appointment this week

We already have two out of town doctors appointments this week. The first is for Elliott, and it's in Akron, and the second is in Cleveland for Mr. Gavin. This translates to a shitload of driving that will far exceed the actual time spent in each appointment. Now we're adding a third appointment. This one is for Emmett and is in regards to his leg pain. It sounds like it could be growing pains, but with all the crazy things we have going on, we'd feel better having him checked out. I'm a little concerned because he says it's his bones that hurt and that it's not muscle pain. Either way, he's struggling, and if there's something we can do to help him, we want to know what that something…

0 Comments
April 29, 2019
Read more about the article What Are You So Scared Of?
Contributed

What Are You So Scared Of?

It sad to say but the harsh truth of living in the modern world is that most of us live our lives in fear. That might sound kind of dramatic but you can see it all of the time. You see people who get trapped in the kind of life that they  never wanted and doesn't make them happy but they put up with it because the idea of something else brings with it the fear of things going wrong and a lot of people really would rather put up with an unhappy life than take that risk.

0 Comments
April 29, 2019
Read more about the article It’s unbelievable what sometimes goes into getting my kids to school in the morning
Autism Parenting Insight / Emmett John / My thoughts

It’s unbelievable what sometimes goes into getting my kids to school in the morning

It's already been an eventful morning, after a long night. When we last spoke, it was about 1 AM, and the boys were unable to sleep. Elliott fell asleep shortly after that but Emmett could not. His legs were hurting him too much, and he ended up sleeping in between Lizze and I. I don't know if he just needed the comfort, but he did fall asleep. Emmett was very concerned about going to school today because of his legs. He has to do multiple flights of stairs, numerous times a day. He also has martial arts as well. The poor kid is having to rough go at it, and he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to do these things because they would hurt too much. I walked…

1 Comment
April 29, 2019
Read more about the article Will this be another sleepless night?
Autism Parenting Struggles / My thoughts

Will this be another sleepless night?

As our weekend comes to a close, we are faced with an unexpected challenge. For whatever reason, Elliott and Emmett aren't able to fall asleep. At this point, it's after 1 AM, and they've already had 5mg of melatonin. I'm unsure why of they are struggling tonight. I know Emmett has been complaining about his legs hurting. We suspect they're growing pains, but we are going to call his doctor this week. We're supposed to let her know if we notice anything because she's concerned that he's put on a lot of weight in a short amount of time. It could be a growth spurt but all his life, he's been inside the 13th percentile on the growth charts. Within a six month window, he climbed to over the 50th…

0 Comments
April 29, 2019
Read more about the article I hate chaos, but it’s an inevitable part of my life
Autism Parenting Insight / My thoughts

I hate chaos, but it’s an inevitable part of my life

I'm feeling a bit better today because I took some ZzzQuil last night, and slept like a baby. I think I actually got a solid 8 hours of sleep. That's both uncommon and awesome, all at the same time. There aren't any plans today outside of working in the house. I want to finish up the laundry and get it put away. Right now, my living room is drowning in laundry, and I desperately want out from underneath all that. I don't know if I've ever specifically spelled this out before, but I hate chaos. I hate it. Chaos is the absence of organization, and I love being organized. Unfortunately, chaos reigns supreme in my house because of the often unpredictable nature of the many Autism related challenges we face…

2 Comments
April 28, 2019