Read more about the article This shouldn’t be allowed to happen
My thoughts

This shouldn’t be allowed to happen

Lizze and I finally have a night off and we have the ability to sleep, without worry about the kids. All week long, we dream of the next time we will be in this same position. We sorta live from one of these moments to the next, if that makes sense.  When facing the amount of struggle we do on a daily basis, we need a light at the end of the tunnel.  Here's the fucked up part. The first chance we have in three weeks to crash and neither one of us can fall asleep. This should not be allowed to happen to parents in situations like these.  I think the problem lies in the fact that our sleep cycles are so messed up, that even if or when…

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March 25, 2017
Read more about the article We finally have a night to ourselves 
My thoughts

We finally have a night to ourselves 

The boys are gone for the night. This means Lizze and I have our first break in about three weeks or so. I'm not gonna lie, we absolutely need this break.  We didn't do much of anything, it was a chill out and watch a movie kinda night. We ordered pizza and watched the rest of Iron Fist on Netflix. Awesome show by the way.. ☺  It's been a long few weeks and we're both exhausted.  Between everyone being sick, the boys being home for seven straight days and the major server issues, my stress level has been through the roof. I've not been sleeping well and I've been struggling with my healthier diet.  I plan on sleeping well tonight, sleeping in and if I'm feeling better, sneak in a…

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March 25, 2017
Read more about the article The heartbreaking letter my son with #Autism wrote
Elliott / My thoughts / School Related Issues

The heartbreaking letter my son with #Autism wrote

Before we go into this post, I want to be clear that Elliott wants me to share this personal journal entry of his. He hopes other kids will learn something from him. There's so much to catch you up on, and I'm trying to get there, but it's been one problem after another. This is something that I wanted to get out there for Elliott because it's important to him. The other day, Elliott fell down the stairs at school. He banged his body up a little, and he's sore, but otherwise physically okay. The only reason I even found out about this, is because he was in tears when he climbed into the car after school. I asked him what was wrong and he explained how he'd fallen down…

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March 24, 2017
Read more about the article When good news is heartbreaking 
Gavin / My thoughts

When good news is heartbreaking 

I wanted to share some insight into what it's like to be heartbroken by good news. I know that sounds weird but let me explain.  On Tuesday, we were informed that Gavin has graduated from speech therapy. He had brought his scores up in several areas and he no longer fit the criteria that would enable him to continue.  On the surface that sounds like amazing news and in some ways it is. Gavin's worked very hard to make some of these improvements and we're proud of him. The heartbreak comes when you see beneath the surface and understand what this graduation really amounts to. The reality that my wife and I face is that we're so happy and proud of Gavin for doing so well in speech. On the…

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March 24, 2017
Read more about the article I’m sick for a few days and it all goes to hell
My thoughts

I’m sick for a few days and it all goes to hell

First things first. The boys had a great day at school and received a big surprise when they got home, in the form of my Dad taking  all three of them to dinner. ☺ I mentioned in the title about things going to hell. That's in reference to this blog. While I was sick, I didn't access the site for almost three days. When I tried getting back on track today, it's honestly like everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. There were all kinds of issues that began popping up and I spent most of the day trying to figure it out. It wasn't a security type issue but rather code corruption somewhere and I couldn't track it down. Long story short, it's all fixed and ended up being…

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March 21, 2017
Read more about the article Why getting my youngest with #Autism to school is so exhausting 
Autism Parenting Woes / Emmett John / My thoughts

Why getting my youngest with #Autism to school is so exhausting 

Remember last night when I said that I suspected Emmett was going to have a difficult time this morning? That turned out to be the understatement of the year.  Emmett was beside himself all morning long. Lizze and I tried forever to help him through whatever emotional hurdle was in his way but we didn't manage to do that.  We did however, manage to get him to agree to go with me and talk to his teachers.  In order to further redirect his attention away from his anxieties, I picked up donuts while getting gas on our way to school. We ended up being thirty minutes late but we made it. He didn't even need me to walk him in because the redirection was a success..  This is great news…

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March 20, 2017
Read more about the article He’s making himself sick over this stupid State testing
Emmett John / My thoughts

He’s making himself sick over this stupid State testing

As of 1:30 AM this morning, both Elliott and Emmett will be returning to school. I should say that they are healthy enough to return to school. Elliott shouldn't be a problem but I think Emmett's going to be. Why would I say that? He's already so nervous about going back that he's woken up and climbed into bed with us twice. Apparently, there was State testing last week and he missed it cause he was sick. These tests always make him sick to his stomach, even though he's the kid with the highest scores. In fact, the last test had him scoring the highest in the school. He's never done poorly on one but he puts so much pressure on himself, it literally makes him nauseous. Unfortunately, he doesn't…

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March 20, 2017
Read more about the article It’s the not knowing that kills me as a parent
Gavin / My thoughts

It’s the not knowing that kills me as a parent

It's becoming clear that Gavin's struggling more and more. Unfortunately, there's no way to know if this is another leg of his journey with Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, the result of changes to his medications or just par for the course. His level of functionality is decreasing and doing so in weird areas. Things like self-awareness are slipping. There's never been a great deal of that to begin with, so this change is noticeable. What do I mean by self-awareness? Gavin had an ice cream sandwich this afternoon. About three hours later, I took the boys to the park to hunt Pokémon for short while before picking up their pizza for school tomorrow. I wasn't paying attention to Gavin's face, like I usually do before we leave and I was caught…

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March 20, 2017