Poor Tristan!

Early Sunday morning Brian was trying to get out the door to head to church.  He woke me up asking where his shoes were.  I jumped out of bed to help him look.  We could not find them ANYWHERE. Brian asked the older boys if they had borrowed them.  They said no.  I suggested Brian go purchase another pair of shoes.  I was thinking back to summer when Tristan hid my shoes.  It took a couple of months before I discovered them in our other son’s closet.  We did not have months to wait this out!

After church during lunch, we mentioned to the older boys about the shoes.  One of them said, “Yes, I have them.  I borrowed them a few days ago.”  This child did not remember being woke up.  Poor Tristan we thought it was him.

A few days later I noticed the treadmill safety cord was missing.  I checked Tristan’s room.  I checked all the usual hiding places.  Then  I also noticed some black stretchy string was cut up.  We know Tristan loves cutting more than just paper!  We try our best to make sure the scissors stay in the kitchen.  I figured it was gone.  I ended my search.

The next day, one of the older boys appeared with the treadmill cord!  It was in their bedroom.  Poor Tristan we thought it was him.

Another healthy dose of laughter from our home to you!

LOL–Really Laugh Out Loud!

Over the years we have had some awesome people come alongside our family.  Lyndsey was one of them.  She watched Tristan from time to time so my husband and I could go on dates.  Last month she posted this story on her Facebook page.  I was really laughing out loud.  I thought I would share with everyone.  So if you need a dose of humor read this!

Lyndsey Miller

October 19

Arrow Prayers!

In this journey of parenting our son with autism I find myself praying a lot.  Throughout a day I may send up several arrow prayers.  Here is a recent one.

Losing My Mind

On some days, I feel like I am losing my mind.  Last week was one of those times.

The backdrop of the week was that I did not feel good.  Therefore my brain was not functioning at peak performance!

One morning I woke up and realized I better throw out the pork chops before someone eats them.  They had already been in the fridge for several days, and we had not gotten around to cooking them.

Yes I Did Say This!

I have stalled in writing this due to the fact I may get some negative feedback on this post.  I do realize I am totally putting myself out there for criticism.  I do hope you enjoy this and see the humor in it.

I will add I did ask my son, Jacob, if he remembered this.  He said, “Yes,”

I followed up with the question, “Did I scar your childhood memories?”

He laughed and said, “No.”

Jacob did remind me of some details of this story that I had forgotten.

I am continuing the topic on sleep- or really lack of it.  I assumed our sleepless nights would be few and far between over the years.  I did not realize part of the disability of autism is that there is lack of sleep!  Therefore that means we have had lots of sleepless nights.  I calculated we had approximately been going on 7 years of this pattern.

One Christmas morning our oldest son, Jacob got up early.  It felt like 1 A.M.  He came to our room to announce, “It’s Christmas Day!  I am ready to open my presents!”

I answered, “Okay.  Go ahead.  I will listen to you open them up.”

Brian said, “WHAT?  You can’t do that!  You can’t listen to him open up presents!!!”

I quickly gave my explanation, “What?  I know what he got. I bought and wrapped the gifts!”

After a few drowsy moments, I got up and enjoyed watching Jacob open up his presents.

Enjoy another healthy dose of laughter from our home!

Finally!

Another healthy dose of laughter from our home.

You said WHAT?

Anyone that knows me knows I LOVE getting a full night of sleep EVERY night.  I do really well with 9 hours of sleep.  I also love naps!  I knew being a parent would mean sleepless nights.  However I could not prepare for the quantity of sleepless nights that comes with a child diagnosed with autism.  Our son functions as a toddler/pre-schooler.  Therefore we are on duty full time when he is awake.  We can never leave him alone for too long (Just read some of my previous posts to see some of the mischief he has gotten into).  That being said, I have said some outrageous things when I was sleeping.  Here is one example:

The Van Ride No One Will Forget

A few years ago we took the family on vacation.  Brian and I thought we had our day all planned out.  We do extra detailed planning when we are away from home. We try our best to avoid any disasters while we are out in public with Tristan.

We booked a room at Key Lime Cove in Gurnee, IL.  Then we got tickets to Great America.  It was a really good package deal. The hotel even offered van service from the hotel to Six Flags Great America. We did not have to pay for parking, and we got dropped off and picked up at the entrance gate.  What a deal!

My brother, Mike, joined us for the day.  He met us at Great America.  He helped with taking Jacob on rides and assisted us with Tristan.   We had some great memories from the day.

After a full day of rides we all decided it was time to leave.   Our family was going back to the hotel and Mike was heading back to his home.

We headed to the parking lot to use the shuttle service.  We waited a few minutes all together with Mike.  Then Mike started heading to his vehicle. Out of nowhere Tristan starts melting down saying, “Uncle Mike  UNCLE MIKE  UNCLE MIKE!.”  Of course Mike heard Tristan, so he walked back and sat with us at the curb.  Even with Mike’s presence Tristan was not easily consoled.  After what seemed like eternity, a hotel van pulled up.  Everyone waiting motioned for us to go first.  Then several other people joined us.

As soon as everyone got situated, Tristan realized Uncle Mike was not in the van with us.  Then in a piercing loud voice Tristan screamed, “UNCLE MIKE, UNCLE MIKE, I WANT UNCLE MIKE!”  As the van continued to drive the volume and intensity of the screamed grew.  We could NOT console Tristan.  There was nothing we could do.  Uncle Mike was gone.  The visit with him was over.  I felt bad for the hotel guests that climbed in THIS van with us.  They had no idea the ride would be so memorable.  Everyone was uncomfortable.  The other guest in the van smiled politely, and tried to not stare  Our oldest son pretended he didn’t know us.  Brian, and I wanted to crawl under the seat with embarrassment.  The two minute ride seemed like an eternity.

Finally we reached the hotel.  We climbed out of the van first.  I could feel the stares.  I did not look at any of the people coming off the shuttle service with us.  I did not want to make eye contact with anyone from this van–ever.

I think we ran to our hotel room to hide.  I cringe every time I think of this.

Don’t worry we will never use this shuttle van again.  We will not be repeat this mistake.  We will gladly pay the parking fee.

Enjoy another healthy dose of laughter from our home!

EVERY DAY IS MONDAY

There is a book titled, “Everyday is Friday.”  The title intrigued me so I gave it a read.  After finishing I told my husband that my book would be called, “Everyday is Monday!”   “Every day is Monday,” has become a joke around our house.  In fact last year my husband made me a shirt that states is big letters, “Every Day is Monday!”

I am not a pessimist.  I am just stating the facts.  Life can be crazy.  Let me give you an example.

Where Is The Dish Soap?

I know I did not put the dish soap in the spice cabinet.  In a matter of seconds Tristan took the soap off the counter and hid it.  I never know which item is next on his “list.”

Enjoy another healthy dose of laughter from our home!