Posts Tagged ‘family’
Include Us, Too
When you talk about your children and how you are feeling relieved because they just met their milestone after all. When you talk about how, “easy” your new baby is and how great of a big sister their sibling is. When you gossip about so-and-so whose son might be delayed. When you talk about those things knowing that I have a disabled child… Right in front of me…. As if I do not exist… As if my child does not exist… You NEVER ask about her. None of you. When…
Read MoreCar Safety and Autism
Sharing our families huge wins is one of my favorite things to do on this page. Because I know how hard we worked for them. And how so many other families are working towards them too. Before we had the baby, Jamie and I agonized about Cooper’s lack of car safety. He would throw, kick, flail, even rock in his car seat so ferociously that the whole car would rock. We did everything we could to work on his tolerance. We did social stories. We rewarded. We split the boys…
Read More6 Wonderful Things I Get to Enjoy Because of Autism
In the wake of Autism Awareness month, I wanted to highlight some of my favorite qualities about my son Zachary, who has severe non-verbal autism. Sometimes it is easier to get wrapped up in the hard parts of autism, because, yes autism is hard. However, there is happiness and joy like no other as well. We live in New Jersey, which has the highest rate of autism in the nation. The CDC reports it as 1 in 32 in New Jersey. Chances are you know someone with autism if you…
Read MoreThis is Not What I Expected Either
“He’s 6 years old, he should be able to walk the block without complaining or flopping.” “Trick-or-treating should be fun, not stressful.” “We should be able to walk through Target together and not have to put him in a too-small cart so he doesn’t get away from us” “Field trips should be such a fun day away from school….” These thoughts either go through my mind or they cross my lips far too often. Combine our lack of child rearing experience (prior to E), our expectations, our own childhood experiences,…
Read MoreLife is Full of Bittersweet Moments
I was looking through pictures on my phone the other day and came across a picture that caused me to pause. The special picture is of Brian with his cute cousins Lilly and Leah. Brian, Lilly and Leah were born within the same year of each other. They live in the same community, attend the same schools and share the same last name. Life’s big moments I remember thinking how fun this could be as the kids grew older. I envisioned them having mutual friends, attending the same gatherings and…
Read MoreThe Day He Passes You
I absolutely love being a boy mom. Race cars, dirt, and ornery smiles. I had just found out we were pregnant that week with our second blessing. We were sitting on the couch after my oldest sons evaluation awaiting to hear the words I already knew were coming. “You’re son is on the spectrum”. My sweet toddler. Laying on the floor with a car on top of his chest. Spinning the wheels. Months later we find out the baby is a boy. Our second boy. Spinning car wheels flash in…
Read MoreA Family of Five
‘I think it’s terrible that you go places without Cooper all the time. I think you are awful, awful parents. And you are teaching your other children that Cooper doesn’t matter. Shame on you.’ -An excerpt of a recent email from a super fan. Very little amazes me on this blogging journey anymore. Even an email like this one. But what does amaze me is how people still don’t understand the agonizing decisions that special needs parents have to make every day. And that even though we make the tough…
Read MoreA Tale of Three Brothers
This morning my six year old was talking to his baby brother. I was running around getting lunches ready. We were running a bit late. And after a night of no sleep the morning felt never ending. I peeked over and saw Sawyer head first in Harbor’s car seat. He was talking to him in his loving, brotherly voice. ‘It’s your brother Harbor. Your big brother. I just love you baby.’ My heart absolutely melted. I watched Harbor stop fussing and grin at Sawyer. Those two. Already two peas in…
Read MoreFriend, Thank You for Helping Me
Dear Lindsay, Our friendship is officially old enough to have a drink this year. I wanted to take a few minutes to thank you for all that you’ve done for my family through the years and to tell you how much you truly mean to me. When I met you at Chuck E Cheese back when we were 16 I admired you so much. I never told you that before but I did. Me being a “rookie” was welcomed by you and the other girls. I thought you were all…
Read MoreThe Day I Learned my Son had Autism
The date was Monday, February 2nd, 2015, the day I now vividly remember as the day I found out my son had Autism. I remember the date, because it was the day my new baby turned exactly two weeks old. My dear friend Aimee was visiting for the first time since my 4th child was born. My new daughter Lainey, two weeks old at the time, was chilling in Aimee’s arms while our other kids ran around tearing up the house like they always did. My then 19 month old…
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