-
Building New Thanksgiving Traditions
Every year I get asked the same question, “How will you be spending your Thanksgiving?” And every year I give the same answer, “Making a thanksgiving dinner for me and the boys and watching some football.” Then the follow up questions. “Will you be with your family?” “Will your husband’s family be there?” “Are you able to make it home to see your family?” “Just you and the boys?” These questions never end. And when they get honest answers, I get the guilt trips or the horrified looks on the people’s faces…I mean why wouldn’t you want to spend thanksgiving with your husband’s family. And once again I tell the…
-
Halloween as a Christian Mother
When I met my husband, I knew he didn’t celebrate Halloween and I knew why. I heard the reasoning behind it and I thought it was preposterous. You see he’s been a Christian his entire life, however he attended a church for a while that made him believe Halloween was for witches and witchcraft and for devil worshippers. The church had him believing that if you celebrate Halloween you are going against God and therefore you are sinning. Preposterous right???!!! So, I knew from day 1, I would not be marrying a man who would be sharing in my love for Halloween. In fact, it was a topic I brought…
-
Porn + Autism
Two words I never thought I’d have to say in the same sentence. I knew there was a chance I’d have to worry about this one day, many, many years down the line with my neurotypical son, but definitely not my autistic son and definitely not now! But guess what….life as always has a way to surprise me and throw me for a loop! I remember when I was growing up and my parents went through this with my older brother and I know how they handled it, but back then it was with magazines, not as accessible as it is nowadays, right in your pocket! I swear it’s everywhere,…
-
How Our School System Failed My Son
My son is high functioning autistic and in the tenth grade. Yesterday I found a certificate for honor roll. And in any other family it would have been celebrated, but instead it was not mentioned, in fact it was found in my son’s room under a bunch of garbage. Which breaks my heart, but when your child has gotten passed his entire life instead of taught properly like the other kids you can’t take a honor roll certificate at face value. Because you know they just passed him like all the other teachers. And the worst part is, my son knows it too. He knows a child that is missing…
-
Watching My Boys Together
Brings pure joy to my heart! As some of you might know from my other posts, my older son is autistic, so for him to show interest in his little brother, who I might also add is his half-brother, it’s a huge deal! Honestly, I’m sitting here watching them interact and it is so long overdue! It brings tears to my heart. You see, when we told our older son he was going to have a baby sibling, he showed no interest. Partially because of his autism, but also because the only baby he has been around is his cousin who to be frank is and always has been out…
-
The Best Part of My Day
For as long as I can remember I’ve been getting up early, working all day, coming home to clean and cook then bed just to get up and do it all over again. Some days I worked so much I didn’t even cook, I went through a drive through somewhere. I was literally so exhausted I just wanted to sleep when I got home. If I got five hours of sleep, it was a great night! But for the last two months my days couldn’t been any more different. To start, instead of an alarm going off at 3am, I get woken up by the laughter of a toddler around…
-
Keeping Your Toddler Busy
Our little man just turned one last month and we had a birthday party for him. I’ve been struggling since becoming a SAHM, I haven’t had to entertain a one year old all day, so I didn’t know what to do. So, for his birthday, I asked guests who were bringing gifts to bring books instead of cards and educational toys only. And for the most part everyone obliged. We received some great gifts and my one year old has already figured out his favorites, those he can stay busy with for hours. So, if you are in my boat and struggling to find ways to keep a toddler entertained…
-
Deciding to get Pregnant
I’ve discussed in an earlier post about my son’s birth, but I haven’t mentioned the journey I took that lead me to that point. Most people don’t know this, but I never wanted to have my own children. I wanted to adopt. I wanted the guarantee factor of having a child that looked like me. Or at least had the same color of skin. You see I grew up being darker than anyone in my family and because of this I felt different. I felt out of place. I felt like I didn’t belong, sometimes. Not that my family ever made me feel this way, they didn’t, but I made…
-
We Need to Change Ourselves
You know sometimes you come across situations that you just can’t keep you mouth shut about. I have two situations that was just that! First up, a little girl and her father at the toy store. She was paying for her toys and didn’t have enough money. Her father had the nerve to scold this five year about not having enough. Saying crap like, “you should be ashamed of yourself for not knowing if you had enough before coming up to the register.” This little girl was humiliated and by her own father! Then her older sister came up and said “don’t worry sissy, I have some extra!” And handed…
-
Hardest Decision of My Life: Becoming a SAHM
Making the decision to become a stay at home mom has been the hardest, but easiest decision of my life thus far. I always knew I didn’t want my children being raised by strangers, but I also knew I didn’t get multiple degrees to stay at home. So what do you do when your baby stops eating and sleeping at daycare? You write your resignation letter. I have been with my job for going on five and a half years. I have a management team that supports and cares about their employees and a working family that notice when you are out. I have a great shift where I get…
