Ahhh... heavenly smell of freshly made coffee, a drop of delact milk and voila! I can enjoy my day now :)
I was asked about routine for our Autism household and how, in general, our day goes by. Hmmm, that's not as easy to answer as I have thought. OK, in general our life is rather chaotic to say the least, although we tend to stick to our self-occurring routines, especially in the mornings. Let's take today as an example. Around 4.30am we felt our little boy climbing into our bed and finding comfort between my husband and I (this has been going on for years - on and off, but recently more on rather than off :)). Knowing I would have to get up, pick my 25kg (55 pounds) bundle of joy, walk around our bed trying to squeeze through a tiny gap between our bed and chest of drawers, carefully passing long legs sticking out of the bed (my original bundle of joy is over 2 meters tall - 6'8") and carry Booboo all the way to his room... I thought to myself "look at him sleeping so peacefully with mouth wide open, producing sweet little snoring sounds, having REM as he was obviously dreaming about something - perfect copy of his daddy :)... Ahhh, he can sleep another hour or 2 and so can I!". I don't know about you, but my mind never rests. As I started thinking of all the things I would have to do to move Michael and then thinking how little time I actually slept, and how my body needs rest and how people can't lose weight because of lack of sleep etc etc. I felt tired just by my thoughts marathon. Knowing it was almost time my alarm would go off, I was getting even more anxious and frustrated cause this mama bear NEEDS SLEEP!!! Sure enough, alarm came and wiggled her way into our bed. Mhm, our baby girl (now almost 5) sneaks into our bedroom everyday around 6am ready to conquer the world. Yup, to give you a better idea although we have a rather big bed, I feel like a winnie sausage trapped between two precious heaters :) One snores,the other wiggles and hums cute yet annoying, especially in the early morning, tunes. We take turns who takes little alarm tune machine downstairs to prepare her "chocolate milk", pack school lunchboxes, squeeze fresh juice to detox our bodies as a kick start of the day and put on a kettle for delicious coffee for mommy and daddy :) No, wait! That's only when it's mommy's turn to go downstairs at 6am :) Daddy bear simply drags his body downstairs following a skipping, cheerful monkey who doesn't stop talking, unless it's a break to sing, then it's back to talking. There is some water boiling in the kettle as I can hear the whistle and few seconds of silence, which could only mean our baby girl is missing or she's tasting her chocolate milk. While she's enjoying her morning drink, boosting her energy (I know!!!), mama bear and baby boy are still resting in bed. Today I actually dozed off after the other two went downstairs and I woke up 20 minutes later - still tired. Now I know why, cause there was no whistle, ergo no chocolate milk. It was 7:08am and we had 22 minutes to feed the flock (kids and animals), pack their lunchboxes, fix some food for us, make fresh coffee, forget the juice - we're so late!!!
I dragged Michael off the bed, walked him to the bathroom and made him do the usual routine ("pee pee in the potty", wash his hands and face and walk him - with his eyes still closed - downstairs to our living area. I saw daddy bear stretched on the couch, impatient ballerina watching a "turkey movie" (really funny one actually) and demanding chocolate milk, Michael circling around me like my very own satellite asking for "tatti" (probiotics in a form of white chocolate - very useful) and sausage (good source of protein). Cats outside going crazy, waking up the entire neighborhood, our poor little Bonnie (1 year old labrador) still curled up in her chair waiting for the magic gates to be opened and food poured into her bowls... realizing it was 7:23am I started pouring cats' food into kids' lunchboxes. Kidding!!! No, no. I was tired and knocked out by allergy meds I had taken previous morning but I packed the right food into each box, fed all my dear creatures - including daddy bear and myself , gave Mike his breathing treatment and done! Sure there have been some hissing and growling along the whole frantic morning but we managed to deliver kids to school on time! Yey :) So there you go! Our "routine". Of course it varies but in general that's how our mornings look like. I noticed Michael is confused when we are on holidays and not because of different location but because we're relaxed - IT'S NOT NORMAL :) I must say though, that recently, even if things were not prepared for school or coffee made, Mark has been letting me sleep in or should I say, rest in bed for extra 20-30 minutes, taking the duty of coming downstairs with a chatterbox upon himself :) So yeah... as difficult and frustrating Autism can be, if you have the right people to share it with, you're alright. God brought us to it and He will bring us through it. I see things a lot more clearly these days. It's not by coincidence that we were blessed with this special boy, whose soul is so pure and innocent that he cannot see any evil in others. Will there ever be a cure for Autism? I don't know. Until there is one available and effective, I will stick to the tested things that work for us - diet, love and most of all - GOD. He knew us even before we were born. He knows our every thought, He sees our tears and wants to share our burdens... It's up to each and every one of us if we allow Him to carry some of the weight that's pulling us down. He promised in Matthew 11:28-30 (KJV):
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
As I sip my morning coffee and getting ready to start my work day, I lean on Him and His promises. Not once has God ever failed us. Not once! Hope you all have a blessed day and find sweetness in the craziness of autism reality.
P.S. Coffee is cold. How long have I been writing this? Seriously!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment