The True Meaning of Christmas

My Husband. I love him with all my heart. Every fiber of my being. I have loved Him since I was 16 years old. I don’t really know anything else. And to be honest, sometimes I don’t even like him. We don’t see eye to eye on many things. We fight a lot. He doesn’t think the things I think are important matter. At all. And frankly, it irritates me that he can’t pretend to go along. He will humor me, but still, not happily. This was going to be…

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Never Give Up and Never Stop Trying

My daughter is twelve and on the autism spectrum. Some of the hardest things for kiddos on the spectrum for my daughter anyway, are lines and noise and too many people. In years past that has been a recipe for disaster. Last night, I took my daughter to Glow with her bestie and mom and it was the first time we were able to walk through due to Covid restrictions over the past couple years. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but last night blew away any expectations I could’ve…

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Our Coop’s Troop Sensory Santa Event

Last night was one of those really special nights. Our family, along with 20 or so other families, spent an evening with Santa. Some kids lined up chairs. Another watched an old 1950’s train docu-series on YouTube. One young man used his speech device to ask Santa for a horse. Another young man wore noise canceling headphones the entire time. Some kids sat near Santa. Some led him around by the hand. Others just waved. One little girl was dressed up in a tutu. Others in Jammie’s. My son wore…

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Christmas Through My Autistic Son’s Eyes

Christmas is so much. It’s busy, it’s loud, it’s joyful, it’s frustrating, it’s just, a lot. I love it though. I love it for religious reasons, I love being with family, I love yummy treats, and I love presents. I get so caught up in it. I have so many deep seeded memories when it comes to Christmas that I want to recreate them for my kids. I want them to have it all and sometimes I forget to slow down. My son, Jesse is on the autism spectrum and…

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The Sparkle of December and the Hope We Hold

There is something about the December month that brings with it a sparkle. With twinkling lights, colder weather, Santa, Christmas trees, and advent calendars. Each year I love more and more the quick turnaround from Thanksgiving to the Christmas season, turkeys to Christmas cookies. Maybe it’s the kids getting older, that I am getting older, or that I have just learned to appreciate the special December festivities. A sweet glimpse of time as we reflect on the year past and what it has given us. It feels like a season…

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Magic Forever

Last night we brought our three boys to a green house to pick out pumpkins. Our middle son was very excited. He loves all things holidays. He also loves overdoing things, much like his mama. 17 pumpkins seems totally reasonable to us. And the baby, he was in heaven toddling along with his brothers. Our older son Cooper, well, he was along for the ride. Pumpkins aren’t really his jam. That is until he realized that the green house had Christmas trees. So many Christmas trees. He immediately gasped and…

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Our First Christmas After Diagnosis

I found myself eating some humble pie last night, or maybe grateful pie. That sounds stupid. Things were put into perspective. I was catching up on my Cooper’s Voice reading–something I only do on hard days–and yesterday was a HARD day. Christmas was a disaster! Maddox had stayed up all night, and by the time everyone was awake to open presents, he was just about ready to fall asleep. We tried anyway. Twenty minutes in and we ended up with a 2-3 hour meltdown, then a 5 hour sleep; the…

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Pretending You Don't Care

I think I am pretty good at pretending I don’t care about things. It comes with the territory I guess. I can’t get sad about every thing that happens. That is no way to live. But holidays and autism will forever devastate me. And the holiday season is right around the corner. I care a whole bunch about Halloween and Christmas and Birthdays. Judge away people. I know someone will want to tell me….”You can’t make Cooper celebrate. You are sad for yourself. You are sad because you are missing…

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