Still struggling but forcing myself to exercise

Lizze and I have a few hours to ourselves this morning and that almost never happens. Gavin spent the night at his grandparents and the boys are at school. What I want more than anything is to crawl back into bed and sleep off the nausea but that's not in the agenda. Lizze and I are going to go walking shortly. I want to go. I need to go but I feel like shit still. At the same time, I know that I'll feel better as I walk and that's why I'm forcing myself to go. I'm losing weight and getting back into reaching my fitness goals. It's unfortunate that I'm having such a difficult time withdrawaling from Paxil but the more active I am, the better I feel. So,…

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Making changes to keep Gavin from hurting himself at night

We've been having some issues with Gavin, particularly at night. The other day, Gavin got up about 9 PM to use the bathroom. Lizze was still reading to the kids and I was in the living room. All of a sudden, we heard a really loud thud. I thought Emmett had fallen off the top bunk but Lizze headed right to the bathroom cause she knew it was Gavin. Gavin swears up and down that he never fell. He claims he only put his hands on the floor to keep himself from falling. Everyone in the house head the thud and no one believes it was from him gently putting his hands on the ground. The problem is that for some reason, his bedtime medication is making him very sedated…

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(PSA) Why Swimming Lessons are Critical for Kids on the #Autism Spectrum

Why Swimming Lessons are Critical for Kids on the Autism Spectrum By: Michael Morris, Goldfish Swim School Everybody in the pool! Yes, that really means everybody. It is widely recognized that all kids need swim lessons. In fact, the American Red Cross says that the number one thing that parents can do to keep kids safer around water is to enroll them in swim lessons. Researchers at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health recently conducted a study that concluded that children with autism are 160 times more likely to drown than the general pediatric population. The lead researcher stated, “Given the exceptionally heightened risk of drowning for children with autism, swimming classes should be the intervention of top priority.” (Source: My Autism.Org) https://youtu.be/WE3NIKGEhOM The swim and water safety…

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My oldest son with #Autism is really trying my patience

I'm not going to mince words here. Gavin is driving me crazy and there's no end in sight. He's eighteen years old on the outside and about six years old on the inside. This large age gap between his emotional age and his chronological age has always been problematic. As he gets older, it's becoming more obvious and increasingly frustrating. Gavin's a great kid. He loves his family to the best of his ability, always looking to help around the house and he never gives up or complains about his lot in life. I've raised him as my own since he was about fifteen months old and I see him no differently than I do Elliott or Emmett. Unfortunately, it's getting harder and harder to overlook some of the behaviors…

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I’m hoping for a good day all around

The boys got off to school without much trouble. Lizze got their lunches together and I cooked some scrambled eggs. Of course, Elliott was the only one to eat them because Emmett will only eat scrambled eggs is they are pure yellow, without any white showing. That wasn't happening this morning so I will settle for one out of two. Emmett will be finishing up state testing today and his teachers are cooking them a pancake breakfast in their classroom, so he'll be fine. ☺ I've been checking with Elliott after school each day (which I've always done) to find out how things are going for him. So far it seems like things are going pretty well. Unfortunately, that doesn't necessarily mean anything because Elliott never tells us about something…

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Positive changes in my body since stopping #Paxil

We just got back from this afternoon's appointments and it's been a super long day so far but I've made it this long. ☺ It occurred to me that I've talked in detail about the side effects from Paxil withdrawal that I've been dealing with but not the positive changes in my body since discontinuing the antidepressant. I'm not as miserable as I have been and I just feel rundown, which I suppose is normal for someone living a life like mine. I don't think it's necessarily an unhealthy rundown but more the feeling drained, stressed out and overwhelmed kinda rundown. This whole Paxil thing has kicked my ass but it's getting better and as I mentioned on Twitter the other day, my overall vitals are back within normal range.…

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My kids with #Autism never fell asleep last night

It's been the longest night ever, well at least recently anyway. For the second night in a row, Elliott hasn't slept. Monday going into Tuesday, I think he got about two hours and that's it. He did okay at school the following day but last night was really rough. This time however, Emmett was awake to join him. Elliott never went to bed but Emmett woke up from a nightmare and was too afraid to go back to sleep. When 7 AM rolled around this morning, they were both so exhausted that there was no way we could send them to school. They would be setup to fail and that's not the right move. Both boys went to bed and are currently sleeping. Our goal is for them to make…

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I will NOT be swallowed up by the negative in my life and here’s why

I'm so stressed out that I'm feeling sick to my stomach. Truthfully, I'd be sick to my stomach anyways cause of this stupid Paxil withdrawal but stress makes it so much worse. Rather than continually being swallowed up by the negative, I'm working to focus more on the blessings and here are a few examples of what I mean. It's all about perspective and the following are things weighing very heavily on me but there are hidden blessing in each situation. ☺ Our house sucks and the neighborhood is dangerous, but we have a roof over our heads. There are people out there who don't even have that. The car is literally rusting through, falling apart, no longer worth fixing and is too small to fit everyone without causing problems.…

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