Posts Tagged ‘covid-19’
Heartbroken at the Airport-Special Needs Families Are Getting Denied at the Gate
On Saint Patrick’s Day, I got up at 3:00 a.m. had our bags packed the night before, ready for a trip with my baby girl to visit family in Montana. I filled a carry-on bag with new toys, snacks, hand sanitizer, charged headphones, and of course, our masks. That morning I woke up our two-year-old Nora, she meet me with a doe eyed look but was in good spirits. I changed her into a cute black shirt with toile on the bottom and slipped on a black hoodie paired with…
Read MoreThe Many Emotions of Covid
Like most of you, since Covid 19 struck, I feel like I have been underground these past few months. I have been consumed and somewhat distraught by the many issues plaguing our society. Too much clutter in my brain has prevented me from digging into my autism mom heart and sharing. Fear not…I think I have found something meaningful (I hope) to write about. If you enjoy my blogs I thank you for your patience. If you don’t…well then you don’t. I cycled through many emotions during the beginning of…
Read MoreQuarantine Confession
Every day we wait outside for a package we never ordered. The days of quarantine are long, especially for a child with special needs. The lack of routine is brutal. I use it as a distraction. It is inevitable that the moment Zac and I step out of the family room we will hear the familiar screeching: Help! Stop it! I know at the bottom of the steps Jordan will be lunching for her brother’s neck so she can catch them for a passionate embrace. It would be enough to…
Read MoreA Moment in the Park
It was a beautiful evening. The puppy needed a walk, Gracie needed out of the house, so we went to the park. It was quiet, only a few kids here and there. Gracie was enjoying the playground and running around. As she went around the side of the slide a little girl about her age said hello. Gracie stopped dead in her tracks. She didn’t say hello back, she didn’t wave, not even a smile. She froze, panic on her face as she tried to think of something to do.…
Read MoreToday, Be A Tiny Bit Selfish
Have you had them yet? The days that are a little harder to get out of bed, maybe because there’s nowhere to be or maybe because you just don’t want to. Not yet. The hot showers interrupted by the yelling outside the door, quickly followed by the thought of “I just don’t want to parent today.” Or maybe it’s the little moments that hit hard. The Zoom birthday parties that are missing all the elements of an actual celebration. Or having to say no when your kid innocently asks to…
Read MoreMy Quarantine Hero
My wife and I are nurses and have been at work during this pandemic. With schools closed we contemplated who would care for Grayson, our 5-year old son with autism. In our pre-Covid life, he attended school for a full day and received OT, PT, Speech, Counseling, Music, Art and Yoga Therapy in addition to the core academics. School was followed by ABA at home for 3 hours/day Monday-Friday. You guys know the drill…it’s A LOT!! We also have Nicolas our 19-year old neurotypical son who is in his 2nd…
Read MoreMay We Learn
Hi. My name is Carrie. I have five kids, a handsome husband, and the best dog in the whole entire world. His name is Wolfie. My dog, not my husband. My husband’s name is Joe. We have four boys and one girl. Our second son, Jack, is diagnosed with autism. He is sixteen years old. He has had autism his whole entire life. I do not believe there is a cure. When I was young, I didn’t give a lot of thought to what kind of mother I might be.…
Read MoreIf He Get’s Sick
Here in New Hampshire, we are on day 6,382,091 of quarantine. Okay, okay. I’m exaggerating. Its only day 5,847,235 of quarantine. Either way, it’s been a long time. Hi. My name is Carrie. I have five kids. I live in New Hampshire. Our state has been under a shelter-in-place since March 13th. We are tired of it. We are tired of ourselves, and our house, and our yard. We are tired of walking around the neighborhood. Our dog, Wolfie, is especially tired of walking around the neighborhood. He runs to…
Read MoreThe Hidden Life We Live
Parenting Autism is hard. Parenting Autism during a world wide pandemic and quarantine is nearly impossible. But, first, I need to start with this. For all of my well meaning friends and family who will comment something along the lines of: “You’re amazing and so strong. I don’t know how you do it.” Please. Don’t. I appreciate it – more than you will ever know. But first, I’m far from amazing. Second, I didn’t pick this life. It was assigned to me by some universal random number life generator (that…
Read MoreThe Way He Did Today
Something happened today during our homeschooling session. It’s been five weeks since he last went to school. We have talked about the whole COVID 19 lockdown situation a couple of times since all this started. Today, his teacher sent a new social story and asked me to read it to him. The picture of the school building in the story looked a lot like the school he goes to. As I was reading it with him, I saw that he had started crying. There was no sound, just tears trickling…
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