This was the best Mother's Day ever in our house...and that is not to say that it was perfect, but it was really good.
I am awakened at say 8 a.m. with loud banging on the door. It's Red of course.
"Can I come in?"
"No...we are sleeping."
He keeps fiddling with the door, finally retreating a few moments later to go down to eat his breakfast. He's up early because he is going to church and his Pastor will pick him up at 9.
Half-hour later he's back.
"I just want to come in and say good-morning."
So much for sleeping in.
More than wanting to say good morning to me, he wants to come in and play with/annoy the dog.
He does actually wish me a Happy Mother's Day without prompting, and gives me a hug.
He made a video for me that he wants me to watch right away.
You see last year on Mothers Day he was supposed to make this video, but he decided he was just too tired. In fact, he also decided that his handwriting was so bad, he couldn't even sign my card.
So this was a huge step in the right direction. Here's the video:
I am awakened at say 8 a.m. with loud banging on the door. It's Red of course.
"Can I come in?"
"No...we are sleeping."
He keeps fiddling with the door, finally retreating a few moments later to go down to eat his breakfast. He's up early because he is going to church and his Pastor will pick him up at 9.
Half-hour later he's back.
"I just want to come in and say good-morning."
So much for sleeping in.
More than wanting to say good morning to me, he wants to come in and play with/annoy the dog.
He does actually wish me a Happy Mother's Day without prompting, and gives me a hug.
He made a video for me that he wants me to watch right away.
You see last year on Mothers Day he was supposed to make this video, but he decided he was just too tired. In fact, he also decided that his handwriting was so bad, he couldn't even sign my card.
So this was a huge step in the right direction. Here's the video:
I must admit this made me smile from ear to ear.
I have to also acknowledge my husband who really stepped up this year. He doesn't cook, but he brought breakfast and dinner in. He bought beautiful cards and flowers for both me and my mother. He cleaned the kitchen (extremely rare) and did everything he could to keep the boys out of my hair for the day. Of course, that was the greatest gift!
Another awesome gift (that I believe was definitely God at work) --Red gave me the gift of leaving the house for most of the day! (I know that sounds bad huh?) He went to church and then his Pastor dropped him off at his friends house where he spent most of the day. This allowed Blue to have peace and therefore give me peace, so that I could nap and lounge for most of the day. Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus!
Oh...and the long lost son, Slim Shady showed up at the house, not 1 but 2 days in a row. He actually hung out, ate dinner, watched a movie and the basketball game with his dad and his brothers. He will be deployed soon to Afghanistan. I appreciate that he is finally reaching out in his own way, trying to show that he does love his family.
Blue did his best to hold it together for most of the day and for that I am grateful. He opted out of doing homework together. He knew that would probably push him over the edge. Unfortunately, as soon as Red walked through the door, it wasn't long before the 2 of them were at each other's throats, which was the spark that lit the fuse and sent Blue over the edge and out of the house. He walked over to our neighbor and friend's house where he cooled down.
It really was the best Mother's Day I can remember in recent history. Of course, there is always room for improvement.
While I was lounging in my room, browsing on my computer, I received 2 comments from exasperated Aspergers moms from last year's Mother's Day post. Here is one of them:
"Another heartbreaking mothers day, I actually hate this day. On a whim I decided to look this up to see if it would help. I have talked to my daughter a ton of times today, not one happy mothers day, even when I reminded her, just her going on and on about some boy she is upset about...and by on and on, I mean on and on. This is an extension of a two hour conversation from last night. When I reminded her it was mothers day and she has not acknowledged it she said "I planned to later" When????? I know this sounds bad, but I feel I sacrifice so much for her, and this is the one day I was hoping for a little acknowledgment. HOw did I forget this is how most mothers days are. Now she is upset because how could i kick her when she is down....really????? Ok, another venting hope this helps me get thru the rest of the day."
To these 2 moms I say, there is always hope. To all of you Aspergers Mom's who did not get the acknowledgement that you wanted, needed and deserved, please know that they do love you. They show it the best way they can with what they are working with at the time. Continue to let them know what you want and expect from them. You may not get it right away, but you may be able to get it from them in the future. Don't set your expectations too high. It may not come packaged perfectly with the flowers and bow on top...but it is love none-the-less.
I also want to acknowledge you here:
You are the best mom you can be
You are enough
You are loved
"You are a cherished Blessing to the world and to me." -my friend, Elena de Beche
Adelaide Dupont · 285 weeks ago
And for those of us who knew and appreciated these points in high school to a greater or lesser extent - always good to have a refresher and feel them through the current and future generations who we survived to be able to see.
I especially appreciated points 5, 7 and 10.
And young women not settling or settling down yet is a good thing.
"It's never too late to live our dreams" - but it may be too early for some of them!
And 8 of course.
nicole · 243 weeks ago
Risa · 230 weeks ago
LAH · 221 weeks ago
Maira L. Coral · 216 weeks ago
I was looking for information for my Multi-Genre Disability Research Project from my Early Childhood Special Education class on the web, when suddenly I came across your blog. I started reading this out of curiosity and I want to tell you that as you said yourself, you will not be Amanda Gorman, but you managed to make me shed some tears, perhaps because I felt totally identified with your words, especially in the part that you speak of your son. My son also has Asperger's syndrome, he is 19 years old and he is in the second semester of College. Also like yours, he takes classes from home, likewise my eldest daughter is also taking college classes from her room. At the same time, that I work as a preschool teacher from my kitchen through a computer, my husband sleeps in the room during the day because he works at night. Also in the afternoons I myself take virtual school classes. I am a 51-year-old Latin woman who began to learn the English language as adult, so maybe you find some deficiencies in my writing, however, I was very moved by how proud you express yourself about your son. Referent your mother, I liked the humorous tone that you give when your talk about her, so I did not want to miss this opportunity and stopped my assignments for a moment to let you know that your words do make a difference, since they reach the heart of at least those who have opportunity to read you. I want confess you that is the most long I have written to someone I don't know, because your words inspired me, thank you...
Gavin Bollard · 209 weeks ago
Thanks for this post. I've been very distracted of late and so this was how I found out about our friend Kate. Kate's struggles were very real but they were so constant and so wide-ranging that it was difficult for people around her to address them. I think it's going to take a while longer for me to process all this.
I learned so much from Kate because she was always quick to point out the many injustices in the world. In her glory days, she was very much a crusader and she cared for everyone. Over the years, as her situation took its toll, I came to realise that it was the fact that she couldn't be put in a single specific category, that made the system fail her. She needed help that they weren't set up to provide.
She needed more care and she needed to be less alone. I'm so sorry that this has happened.
For a long while we were corresponding almost every day but a couple of months ago, I realised that she had become so stressed that nearly every interaction I had with her was starting to trigger her. I backed away to give her a bit more space. She only had a little time that she could stand to be online and there were too many things that she wanted to do in that time. I thought that by taking a step back, she could reach out to more people who might be geographically closer and able to assist.
Kate was a beautiful soul and she will be sorely missed by all of us.
diyalabs6192603 11p · 192 weeks ago
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Spoil your cat · 122 weeks ago
Many of these living arrangement aren't good, and many of the people who run those places really don't have the residents' best interest at heart. Those places are like old age homes and foster homes, where you sometimes hear horror stories. They're hard to trust. But then there are good ones, of course.
The best thing for an autistic adult is either to go on living at home or working and renting an apartment and living independently, but that isn't always an option.
Duncan · 112 weeks ago