Oh E… I love you even when…

There is a children’s book where the child asks the parent if they love them in all types of circumstances. E doesn’t ask, he just puts me in all of the circumstances. Today was one of those days. If you have a child on the spectrum, you probably know what I mean.

We had a busy day, I knew he was going to have his ABA with him for part of it and so when E had finished his chores, I decided to let him have some screen time. Which we limit for a reason. This is a new ABA, thanks to increased hours (what a God send), and I didn’t want to overwhelm her with ALL THE THINGS. So, I had planned for them to pick up his room, work on practicing school skills (because in this house, we practice) and then running an errand in the community with me. We battled. It was WWII and I was Russia and he was Germany, determined to conquer me. So very bad. lol

When was the last time you argued with your kid to put on socks so that we could make it in time to run the errand and get to go to the library which happens to be his favorite? That was battle number 8 for the day. We ended up with all three kids in the car and E reading and pretending to ignore the ABA and I.

He was MAD.

Luckily, A is my shining star in these moments (when she isn’t succumbing to pubescent insanity) and struck up a conversation with me. Somehow, the discussion ended up landing on how all of my blessings have special needs. She asked me if I wished that they didn’t or that they were different. (Mind you – E listens to everything. The CIA should seriously consider recruiting this kid.) I immediately told her NO.

You see, my blessings may have special needs but they have opened up my WORLD.

A forced me to learn about healthy eating so that we could create a diet that would be easy for her to handle and wouldn’t mess with her meds. In turn, this made our entire family aware of just how difficult food allergies can be. This has made her more compassionate because they resonate with her.

E, oh E how I love him. This boy gives the best hugs. He has taught hubs and I patience, constantly. He also is unabashedly willing to share that he has Autism. He isn’t ashamed of it. He is a witness to not just accepting who you are, but embracing it. “Hi, I’m E. I have AUTISM!” (Can you imagine making that introduction yourself?)

Then there is little C. She has been out of my womb for less than six months and our family is learning a whole new language for her. That’s right, ASL lessons for everybody! Even more than that, we have seen our community of friends and many of our family members embrace learning ASL, too. If we didn’t know how loved we were, if we ever felt isolated, that should remove all doubts.

By the end of the conversation with A, E was back to his routinely happy self and even began interacting with his new ABA. She got to experience his funny sense of humor and began to connect with him. So E, I love you even when you throw all of the clean clothes on the ground just to claim there are NO SOCKS.