Hits and Misses

Sometimes, things can best be summed up in bullet points. Or ranked. Or listed. I mean, who doesn't love a list?

This one's about some good stuff and some bad stuff that's happened recently. (See how inelegant I am today? Bullet points to the rescue.)

I tried to be all thematic about it, so instead of “cheers and jeers” or “highs and lows” I'm going with Whac-a-Mole Hits and Misses (get it…the moles). Here we go.


HITS  

• This gorgeous design. I can’t say enough about Ro Little with Mommy Blog Designs. She lives in my computer (aka Canada) and is responsive, collaborative and talented. Loved working with her. If at any time you don’t like what you’re reading, just picture me pointing  and saying, "oooh, look at the pretty stars.”
  
  
• Cute kid moments. The best concept ever taught to my 7-year-old nonverbal daughter with autism: mimicry. Her severe apraxia hinders her from forming words even when she’s trying so-very-hard, but watching and mimicking others helps her learn how to do it. Additionally, like many with similar diagnoses, she's also quite literal, so we often must play the role of detective to figure out exactly what she means. For example, this particularly tricky but funny moment happened this week. After running around in my usual frenzy, I complained to my husband that “I am so hot.” Seconds later, the adorable devil-child came over and blew on me...just like an extra hot slice of pizza. So sweet!

• Medical miracles. Two medical events for us this week - with the unusual twist of them being for the adults in the house. I had a (roughly) annual physical and my husband enjoyed his first colonoscopy - which, by the way, he insisted on undergoing fully awake with NO anesthesia ('lil bit nuts). Once becoming a parent, health and mortality usually take on a whole new depth. With special needs kids, it's absolutely terrifying to think about how they would thrive without us. I cannot take for granted that this week's two medical events were routine and uneventful...a huge hit! 

 MISSES

• Blogging apps. Per my last entry, I am still bitter about my lost post, but I won't take all the blame. These blogging apps – and I’ve tried most of them  – have ridiculously limited capabilities with too much room for user error. The biggest hindrance for me is that they don’t sync drafts and posts well. I think I'm going to try to draft posts in Evernote going forward. Except for now...and probably ever. Great idea though, right?
  
  
• The hidden costs of autism. All children add expenses to your life, but special needs kids incur so much more than one would think. I don't just mean the obvious therapies, interventions and adaptive equipment. A friend of mine did a hilarious PowerPoint featuring all of the expensive broken items in her home - damaged by autism. Sensory needs, impulsiveness, compulsions and tantrums all contribute to mass destruction. So my daughter likes to touch and use everything. Liquids are a favorite and MUST be poured out, shaken up, mixed or guzzled for entertainment. My expensive contact lens cleaning solution? Squeezed down the drain. My whole bottle of shampoo? Perfect as bubble bath. The orange juice carton? All gone, since why stop pouring when the cup is full? And even Costco-sized hand soap doesn't last very long in our home between her excitement about spilling it down the sink paired with my son’s hand-washing obsession. Cha-ching! (I will, however, file the iPad save as a "hit" since I managed to convince her to NOT toss it out of the car window. Score one for Mom!)
  
  
• Cleaning up a box of uncooked spaghetti. (And yes, of course, my daughter was the one who spilled it out. On purpose.)
  
  
• Bathroom disasters. Remember that mimicking talent? Well, sometimes...not so cute. After dear daughter tried flushing an entire roll of toilet paper (post-poop), clogged the toilet AND attempted to plunge it (all somehow accomplished within the mere 22-second window when she wasn’t directly supervised in the bathroom), I had to don plastic gloves and dig it out myself. The whole disgusting mess was in a trash bag for 1 minute before she tried to put on the same gloves herself and dig right back in the toilet. Liquids, right?  GOOD LORD!

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