Christmas is a magical time of year, especially when you take the time to look at it through the eyes of your children. The excitement, the joy, the anticipation, the expectation of the presents and the uncontrollable curiosity of the coming of Santa Claus. Is he watching now? Am I being good? Their anticipation of sitting on his lap and telling him what they want and immortalizing that moment in a picture. My small children are counting down, and my 16 year old child is counting down. Yes, my 16 year old still believes in the miracles of Christmas. The joy in her eyes is just as intense as that in the eyes of her younger siblings, and yes, she still visits Santa every year and we get that picture.
That's one of the blessing of autism. Her childlike curiosity surrounding the holidays is breathtaking at times. I get asked at times if maybe I shouldn't encourage this behavior in her. My answer is why not? Santa Claus is alive in well in my household. When the time is right, she'll know who Santa is. Why would I want to take that away from her right now? But one thing I so install in my children, ALL my children, is that Christmas is not just a day to receive a ton of presents. It's about family, close friends, and celebrating the most important birthday in history. The birth of Jesus Christ. Amanda understands this more than most 16 year olds. She knows what a special birthday it is. Since she understand this true meaning of the season, why would I want to sit her down and tell her about Santa?
This year, I will watch my children in amazement as this day comes closer and closer, and I will not tell Amanda anything different than what she already believes. After all, I'm 38 years old, and I believe.
Merry Christmas!
Our Family
Friday, December 16, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Flu Season Is Awful!
Yep. It's flu season in the wonderful state of Ohio. We've had some sort of illness going through the house since the beginning of November. It started with Zachary, he was pukey for a day, lethargic for a week, puked one more time and then he was done. Then I got some wonderful upper respiratory thing, and then Amanda got the upper respiratory thing. That cough lingers on forever, let me tell ya! Today I noticed Amanda's cough had almost disappeared and mine was FINALLY getting much much better. MacKenzie and Jake haven't gotten bit by the bug....yet. Just as I thought we were turning the corner....
The stomach flu is awful for anyone. Amanda comes home from school and seemed perfectly fine. Then she's sitting in the living room and out of nowhere, she starts puking. Great... Now the upper respiratory thing was bad enough for her, but whenever she gets a stomach bug she is nearly inconsolable! It's awful that I get so frustrated with her because of it. I try and explain that if she continues to cry, she'll just make it worse. That if she obsesses about the next time she's going to throw up, she makes it that much worse. She doesn't just complain a little, we're talking loud sobbing! As frustrating as it is for me, I was just taking some time to reflect just how bad this is for her. No, she's not feeling well, and her tummy hurts, but I can't conceive the pain for her. Tummy aches are bad for anyone, but put extreme sensory issues with that. She is so uber aware of everything that goes on with her body, a tummy ache must be torture!
It took me just tonight to really think about this. Imagine if you will the last time you had the stomach flu. Remember the misery. Now try and think back to that time, and multiply it by 1000. If you have super-sensory issues and everything that happens is multiplied by the fact that your brain makes you SO AWARE of every little twinge you feel, my God! How horrible! Her tolerance to your typical pains such as stubbing your toe, hitting your funny bone etc is amazing. But when she has something going on internally that's something entirely different for her. Her menstrual cramps are awful for her too. Ugh! The poor thing. So as awful as this is for me to watch, it is unfathomable for me to understand how miserable this is for her.
I pray this is a quick little bugger that moves away fast. Poor thing....
The stomach flu is awful for anyone. Amanda comes home from school and seemed perfectly fine. Then she's sitting in the living room and out of nowhere, she starts puking. Great... Now the upper respiratory thing was bad enough for her, but whenever she gets a stomach bug she is nearly inconsolable! It's awful that I get so frustrated with her because of it. I try and explain that if she continues to cry, she'll just make it worse. That if she obsesses about the next time she's going to throw up, she makes it that much worse. She doesn't just complain a little, we're talking loud sobbing! As frustrating as it is for me, I was just taking some time to reflect just how bad this is for her. No, she's not feeling well, and her tummy hurts, but I can't conceive the pain for her. Tummy aches are bad for anyone, but put extreme sensory issues with that. She is so uber aware of everything that goes on with her body, a tummy ache must be torture!
It took me just tonight to really think about this. Imagine if you will the last time you had the stomach flu. Remember the misery. Now try and think back to that time, and multiply it by 1000. If you have super-sensory issues and everything that happens is multiplied by the fact that your brain makes you SO AWARE of every little twinge you feel, my God! How horrible! Her tolerance to your typical pains such as stubbing your toe, hitting your funny bone etc is amazing. But when she has something going on internally that's something entirely different for her. Her menstrual cramps are awful for her too. Ugh! The poor thing. So as awful as this is for me to watch, it is unfathomable for me to understand how miserable this is for her.
I pray this is a quick little bugger that moves away fast. Poor thing....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)