Blasted Sick Days

Right now, 'A' is sick. His symptoms are relatively mild, however his autistic side flares up, and his manageability becomes something to be desired. I struggle to help him find appropriate ways to self-regulate but I think we will just have to wait and see. Since he is almost 5 years old, and on his best days very cooperative, understanding, and acquiring more adeptness in self-expression, I have decided to push it some more. We have noticed his seizures are less frequent when we give him the space to be at home, and some safe games to stim with that are slightly less destructive to the house. I struggle for me-time on these days, which are typically my brief breaks in between to maintain sanity.

Today it worked!! after a failed session with the respite worker, due to his hyperactive and ill-responsive behaviours.. he calmed down by lunch time and had a pretty decent afternoon, we found more middle-ground. My expectations of him in his calm periods have heightened to what he seems capable of. I do struggle to meet the demands of the services we are involved in right now, but am finding comfort in not being the only one.

Going back some time, I am bringing up the subject of my beloved new furniture. Thus far, not only have they survived many-a-day of roughhousing, spills, food, and whatnot; but they have also been re-organized to something more friendly. Each seat is labeled with the day of the week, and the contents are only one subject per day. This seems to be far less intimidating to the boys, and the process is simple. Part of our morning routine is to discover the day of the week, check out the contents of the corresponding seat, work on some problems and discover solutions to the activities available. We are also putting together a weather chart, something where we can discuss the weather each day, experience it, dress for it, and eventually track it.

I've had a rough go at it so far, but have discovered again, the intense need for self-care that I am seemingly responsible for as being a parent of autistic children, not to mention the amount of self-care as a home-schooling parent, and home-therapist. Blah!! So I will share my favourite things to do to unwind and force myself to feel like I deserve the me-time.

-- bubble baths. This one is sort of a simple thing, I have to clean the bathroom in order to feel comfortable enough to have a bubble bath of my own.. so I earned it a little bit ;)
-- working out. I was doing great at being active, my favourite ways to keep it up at home have been cycling, pilates, yoga, and dancing. I discovered some arthritic symptoms which do not excite me, but must find a way to overcome, as the latest interest I've discovered is belly dancing. The wonders you find in the discount bin in the electronics department.
-- video games. I do play. many different ones. very inconsistently.