Merry Christmas from Casey, Rob and me!
I can’t believe that I’ve let it go so long without writing again. I have no excuses, really, beyond being tired and busy. And, sometimes, I just don’t know what to talk about that might interest anyone. The last several weeks, life has thrown some curves our way and it’s been hard to think about much beyond those curves.
It is interesting, though, how autism makes problems unique. I discovered early in November that my well had dried up and I needed to have a new well drilled. The cost was crazy, but even more worrisome was trying to get Casey and Rob to understand to be even more careful with water. Luckily, the company who was drilling our well understood my situation and brought a trailer with a water tank that I could have refilled every few days.
That was such a relief, but it was still hard to remind Rob his showers couldn’t be the long, hot ones that he and I like so much. He needed to jump in, wash, and get out. I was so proud of them both – even though they weren’t sure what it meant to be low on water, they followed along as I rushed them through baths and showers. Casey was happy that she still had a load of laundry waiting when she got home!
But there again, water and the cost of a new well and trying to get a tooth fixed for Rob (again!) and worries for family and friends just seemed to take over the last month. Some days, I felt like I was losing my mind – that if one more thing happened, I would just sink into a blob of goo all over the floor. Those minutes didn’t happen often, but it was exhausting when I did feel that stress. I know what I need to do to relieve stress and, mostly, those ideas worked. But, it also made me tired.
Casey always has a long list of Christmas “must-haves” and, early in the month, she was full-on reminding me every single day of what she still wanted to do. So for a few weeks, we were somewhere every night, either taking baths at grandma and grandpa’s house or visiting a Christmas light display or shopping. We managed to get everything she wanted, except for one, and I’m hoping to take them to those lights tonight or tomorrow. For some reason, she hasn’t mentioned it, though. Maybe she’s tired, too.
She’s happily munching on “Grinch” cookies now and reminding me that she’s going to get presents Tuesday. (When they were little, we started the tradition that the kids exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve and they will also get their gifts from me that day.) And presents Wednesday. And presents Thursday. The funny thing is, she doesn’t care about the cost of any present. She would be thrilled to open nothing but socks and color by number books.
Rob is the same way. He doesn’t care about the cost of gifts. He wants what he wants. Basically, stuff to rip up and Legos. He hasn’t mentioned presents and he won’t. He lets Casey plan everything and just follows along with whatever she says is next. He enjoys going to the light shows, but he’s not worried about getting to all of them. (That could be because he knows she’ll worry enough for both of them!)
We are ready to relax and have some fun. Our Christmas may not look at all like yours, but it works for us. Casey and Rob are excited and happy with our plans and that’s all that matters to me.
May each of you have a very blessed Christmas! We are so happy you are enjoying our adventures!
If you would like to read more adventures, check out our book, Autism, Apples & Kool Aid. I think it will make you laugh and remind you of what is really important in our crazy lives with autism.