Category Archives: Parenting

Autism, Parenting

Barrett Goes to Church

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bearHPI realize that I vowed to not write about religion, and I assure you, this post isn’t about religion.  Stay with me, because it’s about autism, milestones, and my Barrett!

One of the benefits of belonging to our Catholic church is that there’s a Saturday evening mass. I love this, because my weekend mornings are very precious.  We haven’t been to church in a while, I won’t bore you with the reasons, but my little man has to start getting ready for his First Communion.  That means we need to show up.  Believe it or not, we’ve never been to church together as a family.  Barrett has never been able to sit still or remain silent for that long.  Unfortunately this has meant that he’s been absent from major family events (weddings, funerals and his sibling’s First Communions).  Continue reading Barrett Goes to Church →

Parenting, Writing

A Day in the Life…

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I’ve been reading a bunch of books on the craft of writing and my reading binge was triggered by a writing class that I’m taking. 18108577[1] I just finished, Write Every Day, by Cathy Yardley and it gave me an “aha moment.”  I think one of my greatest obstacles to achieving my writing goals is time management.  And so, as suggested in the book, I’m keeping track of how I spend my time.  Here in Georgia, the kids are already back in school and that means my days have gotten very busy.  This is how I recently spent an ordinary day.  Reader be warned, ordinary can sometimes mean boring!  Continue reading A Day in the Life… →

Parenting, Personal

The First Day of School

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It’s back-to-school today and the timing is right – even though it’s only August 7th!  A week ago I was dreading this day.  I didn’t want the summer to end.  I didn’t want to be a slave to the kids’ calendars.  I didn’t want to have to get up at 6 a.m. I didn’t want to pack lunches.  I didn’t want to face the homework.  But the universe has a funny way of bringing you around.  The day following my attack of dread, child number one tried to jump off our second floor balcony (the same child who jumped three years ago and broke his foot in the process).  Child number two slept till 10 a.m. and then spent all day watching wrestling and NASCAR – all day.  Number three suggested that a younger sibling do something so inappropriate that I cannot even hint to you what it was.  Number four spent the whole day in tighty-whiteys and when I asked why, I was told that he was trying to break the record for most days in a row wearing only underpants (and the same pair, to boot!).  Yeah, it’s time for summer to end.

100 Continue reading The First Day of School →

Parenting

A Letter to My Children

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In the spirit of summer repeats, I’m posting a blog I wrote for the Family Legacy Center this spring.  I promise to get back to producing original material as soon as I get out of my writing funk!  Grrrr.

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As I disclosed in my earlier guest post for the Family Legacy Center, I write my children letters each year on their birthdays.  I then file them away for my kids to read when they’re older.  Several people have asked me what I write in these letters and I don’t have an easy answer.  Each child and each birthday is different.  I mix the good with the bad, the funny with the sad, and try to paint a picture of Barrett, Hunter, Audrey and Camden for each year of their childhood.  If one day I’m not there to tell them what they were like at seven, ten or thirteen, they’ll have those birthday letters.

Recently I saw an article on the Huffington Post about a letter that a 73 year-old grandfather wrote to his grandchildren to pass along accumulated bits of wisdom.  The guidance aspect of his letter got me thinking.  What kind of sage advice would I like to pass on to my children, and their children?  Continue reading A Letter to My Children →