She’s rarely ever quiet... unless she’s asleep or not feeling well.
I love that about her.
She makes me laugh constantly - even when I’m mad or frustrated with her, I can’t help but laugh at some of the silly things she does or says.
.
My youngest has sensory issues.
.
Tonight I experienced a real LIGHT BULB Moment:
Her loud, overly-dramatic, hyper-activity - more often than not - triggers his sensory issues.
.
No wonder life seems so stressful and chaotic when we’re all home together.
.
When they leave for their dads’ - I tend to hole up in my bedroom to decompress and sleep as much as I can. I didn’t understand why I felt so depleted or why I could literally stay in bed all. dang. day. on the days they weren’t here if I didn’t have work or school stuff to get me out of bed. I didn’t understand any of that until tonight.
What started as a mildly stressful evening quickly escalated to an uncomfortable tension that ended with all of us being sent to separate corners of the house for a few minutes to regroup and decompress.
A Positive that came from it:
I opted to turn it all into a teachable moment.
I had her look up “sensory issues” and “autism”.
I made her read what she found out loud and then asked her what she took away from what she had just read. I asked her to apply it to her and her brother.
I shared with her some of the thought processes and constant worries I struggle with privately.
- Daily worries about his nutrition.
- Daily worries about his safety.
- Daily worries about his education and his future.
I told her about the process I started months ago of trying to get her brother qualified for other therapies outside of school to increase his chances of living and leading a normal life.
- Endless phone calls, emails, and applications.
- Incessant research for information and resources.
- The constant worry of: Am I doing the right thing? Am I doing enough?
.
Tonight could have easily been a train wreck.
We all could have gone to bed angry, hurt, frustrated, and sad.
But because I was able to share some of my biggest fears, concerns, and failures as a mother with my daughter, things were diffused from a place of utter frustration to a place of understanding.
I’m blessed that she was open to listening. She truly wanted to gain a better understanding about her brother’s issues.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:
Mom-ing ain’t easy, but I am feeling so lucky that I get to be their Mom.
I love that about her.
She makes me laugh constantly - even when I’m mad or frustrated with her, I can’t help but laugh at some of the silly things she does or says.
.
My youngest has sensory issues.
.
Tonight I experienced a real LIGHT BULB Moment:
Her loud, overly-dramatic, hyper-activity - more often than not - triggers his sensory issues.
.
No wonder life seems so stressful and chaotic when we’re all home together.
.
When they leave for their dads’ - I tend to hole up in my bedroom to decompress and sleep as much as I can. I didn’t understand why I felt so depleted or why I could literally stay in bed all. dang. day. on the days they weren’t here if I didn’t have work or school stuff to get me out of bed. I didn’t understand any of that until tonight.
What started as a mildly stressful evening quickly escalated to an uncomfortable tension that ended with all of us being sent to separate corners of the house for a few minutes to regroup and decompress.
A Positive that came from it:
I opted to turn it all into a teachable moment.
I had her look up “sensory issues” and “autism”.
I made her read what she found out loud and then asked her what she took away from what she had just read. I asked her to apply it to her and her brother.
I shared with her some of the thought processes and constant worries I struggle with privately.
- Daily worries about his nutrition.
- Daily worries about his safety.
- Daily worries about his education and his future.
I told her about the process I started months ago of trying to get her brother qualified for other therapies outside of school to increase his chances of living and leading a normal life.
- Endless phone calls, emails, and applications.
- Incessant research for information and resources.
- The constant worry of: Am I doing the right thing? Am I doing enough?
.
Tonight could have easily been a train wreck.
We all could have gone to bed angry, hurt, frustrated, and sad.
But because I was able to share some of my biggest fears, concerns, and failures as a mother with my daughter, things were diffused from a place of utter frustration to a place of understanding.
I’m blessed that she was open to listening. She truly wanted to gain a better understanding about her brother’s issues.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:
Mom-ing ain’t easy, but I am feeling so lucky that I get to be their Mom.
