Our Deaf Sons Magical Experience with Father Christmas

We met Father Christmas and what a lovely experience it was! As with most things we do it was not easy, nor was it perfect, but it was amazing! Charlie struggled at times, he didn’t understand the walk through to the grotto. He did count the elves and he said hello to the owls but it was quite overwhelming. At times I felt that familiar feeling of being out of control. I wondered if we’d made a mistake and I worried we were ruining the experience for the other family…

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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 Best Thing About Christmas

I can say with absolute certainty that the best thing about Christmas is the children. This morning, this one wandered in my room, ready to start his day. He gasped when he saw the wrapped gifts stacked up in the corner. As his dad attempted to pull him into our bed so we could sneak a few more moments of sleep, he said… ‘Wait dad! I just want to stare at the presents for a while!’ And he did. He just stared. It’s the best. Being a parent on Christmas.…

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Christmas in 2020

A few weeks our Christmas tree fell over. Jamie and I were sitting in silence after putting the kids to bed, when out of the blue the tree fell over. We lost the star. And most of the ornaments. The needles went everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Candy canes smashed and slid across the floor. Neither of us moved. I’m not lying. We just sat there. Looked up. Nodded. Looked down. And went back to our phones. Apparently a giant tree flipping over in our living room can’t phase us.…

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The Christmas Moments I Envy

Christmas time has always been my favorite time of year. The lights, love, festivities. The family and friends. Growing up my mom and dad made Christmas magical even if they had to go without. My mom would bake and decorate the house beautifully. You could feel the love the minute you walked in the house. I always wanted to give my kids the same magical feeling. As I got older, I understood that the magic of Christmas came from my parents. It didn’t come from a store. Having a child…

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Our Favorite Time of the Year

These three picked out the absolute best tree at the tree farm today. It was an experience I tell you. As it typically is with these three. The baby found mud. Then we lost him for a second. He was hiding. Sawyer wanted every tree. Cooper didn’t care what tree…he just needed ‘A’ tree in the back of truck. Jamie didn’t swear or yell once! No one threatened to call Santa! And after we went for doughnuts. But they were out of sprinkle doughnuts so it was quite a negotiation…

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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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My Son, This Year for Christmas…

Dear Son, This year for Christmas I know you won’t ask me for anything or understand why a burly man in a red suit is so important. You won’t understand why there are so many parties and great food, or why this little baby that sits in a manger is being spoken about. This evening, I won’t be able to explain to you that Santa will be here at night and that we should leave cookies out for him, because why would we leave cookies out for no good reason…

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My Daughter’s 18th Christmas

This is Casadee’s 18th Christmas. I still make her a calendar every year so she can count down the days and quite honestly to reduce the number of times she asks me “Christmas tomorrow?” This year her number gift request is a desktop computer. She is typical in that regard, like most teens the price of the present goes up. This year I can use her newly awarded SSI money to purchase it. She doesn’t read or write but she has been using computers at school for as long as…

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Happiness is what Matters

As we age, our interests change. They evolve. They grow with us. But what if they don’t? What if they stay the same year after year? In the real world, they call it age appropriate. It means teenagers shouldn’t be watching Barney or adults shouldn’t be believing in Santa. Someone once told me to turn off the cartoons and put on the National Geographic channel. I still laugh about that. They thought parents like me should be forcing interests. My son is 9. He’s amazing. And he loves Peppa, Barney,…

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