Posts Tagged ‘autism family’
Perfect Night
Tonight was one of those perfect nights. Beautiful weather. Sunshine. Heat. To get this baby out we went to the park. Our park. The one we’ve been going to since we just had Cooper. And now three boys. And soon one more. We moved slower than snails. Backwards sometimes. Any animal that may have been near retreated at the sound of us coming. Cooper looked for whales and penguins. Sawyer asked me questions about how said baby is coming out. And about hospitals and labor. He’s a little nervous about…
Read MoreI’ll Hold Your Hand
This adorable onesie came home in Cooper’s backpack earlier this week. I can’t even tell you how thankful I am that his teacher made it with him for us. And I have no doubt they will hold hands. Because holding hands is Cooper’s favorite. I watch him reach out to me, his dad, and his brothers often. We take turns leading each other. Just as it should be. Finding Cooper’s Voice is a safe, humorous, caring and honest place where you can celebrate the unique challenges of parenting a special…
Read MoreWaiting for Anxiety
My ten year old son has anxiety. Such a simple sentence. One that rolls off my tongue. Like my son has blonde hair or my boy loves trains. The meaning of the sentence is unbelievably complicated though. One with layers of meaning. Some people don’t believe in anxiety. They think it’s a made up thing. Maybe one time I did too. That was before my son. Before autism. Before I met the most amazing, complicated boy who uses movies to communicate. I think of his anxiety as a train sometimes.…
Read MoreMy Heart Isn’t Ready
I am so ready to have my fourth baby. The nursery is ready. The car seat is too. I can’t wait to kiss her and snuggle her. She can come any day now. And yet, I can’t imagine not giving 100% to this one. While my two older boys don’t seem to need mama every second, this one does. They have friends and sports and trains and seems so grown up at times. But this one, he’s my baby. My little buddy. He asks for snuggles and uppies and kisses…
Read MoreDoing Our Best
Tonight, my middle son and husband had their first baseball game of the season. It was a big night for both of them. Jamie coach pitched and Sawyer was the catcher. Double trouble if you ask me! At 39 weeks pregnant I knew if I wanted to see our team play I was going to need some help. My oldest and my youngest keep me on my very swollen toes. Thankfully I was able to call in some help. On the way to the game, Cooper began playing an episode…
Read MoreAm I Brave Enough?
Am I brave enough…? I just left the grocery store. I only had a few things today so opted for the self checkout today. While I scanned my items, I became aware of two young men next to me. I would say they were both in their 20’s. It dawned on me rather quickly that one was helping the other shop for groceries. He was helping him scan each item, slow and meticulously. Talking him through he step. The gentleman being helped was very much enjoying himself. He was laughing…
Read MoreNow That I Understand
I used to think a lot of things about my son’s autism. Back before I really understood. Back when it was just a word on a piece of paper slid across the table to us. Slow like. As if the contents held the secrets to our future. I thought it was something that was given to him. Placed upon his 3 year old shoulders, weighing him down. I thought it was something we could fix. Or change. I thought there was a part of him that was not autistic. One…
Read MoreJackson Street Roundhouse
I want to give a huge shout out to the staff and volunteers at the Jackson Street Roundhouse and the Minnesota Transportation Museum. So much kindness for our family. We enjoyed walking around at our own pace and riding the train. Cooper loved the ‘free’ train magazines (which we donated for , Sawyer loved the hot dog stand, and Harbor adored the model trains. He even dove under the fence to get a closer look. And I teared up when Cooper signed ‘thank you’ to three volunteers and they signed…
Read MoreChoosing Gratitude
Yesterday I visited my dad at his nursing home. He had a stroke in April and while his mind and humor are spot on, his arm and leg don’t want to cooperate much anymore. So, he’s officially in the system as he says. This is my fifth time seeing him since his stroke and I didn’t cry as much this time. Instead we laughed a lot. We joked about a lot of things and it felt good to replace the sadness with humor. It felt natural for us. And then…
Read MoreEach Child is Uniquely Made
I think one of the most important lessons I’ve learned over my 10 years of motherhood is that every child is different. There is no norm really. Or perfect mold. Each one is uniquely made. What makes one tick does not necessarily work for the other. And your children can be like you or entirely different. Or have bits and pieces of you. Maybe even your most challenging traits. So it almost feels like you are parenting a mini version of your naughty self. That’s fun. My three boys range…
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