Celebrate Good Times Come on. Come on!

I am a terrible person. I am. Today the thought crossed my mind that perhaps I should change my religion to Jehovah’s Witness so I never have to celebrate a birthday or Christmas again. Today is Josiah’s 4th birthday. It’s wrecking me pretty bad. I beat myself up more than anything. “Why can’t I just [...]

Pitching My Tent in the Land of Hope

Ten years ago, when my youthful husband and I were more adventurous, we bought a little tent. We were going to a Christian music festival in Willmar, MN, and thought we could save a little money by camping out on the grounds. Now, neither of us really had much camping experience, but the tent just [...]

Homage to Poems about Raising Special Needs Kids

Okay, here I go. I am about to offend a whole lot of people. I just have to say I’m sorry upfront and I hope you’ll forgive me. I’m headed into sacred territory. Coping territory. The place where good, caring people go to harvest sentiments to “make you feel better” about having a child that has some [...]

3 am Ramblings by a Tired Mom

In writing this blog, I swore to myself that I would point to hope and at the same time be really authentic about my feelings. So, while the last four nights Josiah has slept great (thank God!), before that I had three nights of very interrupted sleep. For many parents dealing with autism, erratic sleep [...]

Meet “Marta,” My Cultural Au Pair

For you faithful readers out there, I’m sorry that I have been so lamely absent from the blog for about a month! “Me time” is just nowhere to be found these days. I remember back before we had a baby when my husband and I would comment, “Oh, we’re so busy. I mean between working [...]

When Autism Moved In

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10
My son Josiah is my precious one. My pride and joy. He has my captivated my heart. I had no idea just how much I could love someone until he [...]

He’s a big boy now

Last Sunday morning my little Josiah turned into big boy before my very eyes. We decided to go to Great Clips and opt for a shorter haircut this time. As his moppy, wavy locks fell to the floor he began to look so much older. What happened to my baby? (By the way, I was so [...]

Personality Conflicts and Discoveries

I recently took the Myers Briggs personality test for the first time. I supervise a team at work, and we felt like it would be beneficial for us to know what makes each other tick. We can have quite the tug of war sometimes between the extroverts and the introverts, those that love some freedom [...]

“Surprised By Autism” Debuts for Autism Month

Today is World Autism Awareness Day and April is autism awareness month. I’m excited about the elevated attention given to this cause at this time, and here are a few links I’d like to share with you, including our own documentary that my husband produced:
Jenny McCarthy’s third book was just released called Healing and Preventing [...]

My Son is Addicted to Crack…ers.

“Stolen water is sweet;
       food eaten in secret is delicious!” Proverbs 9:17
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I never thought I’d have to have the “Just Say No” talk with my son at the age of three. A few months ago he casually dabbled in the Glutino-brand gluten/dairy free crackers. He thought they were okay, I guess, but he didn’t HAVE to [...]