Good Morning!

[feedthemachine]

Morning fellas ,
Only up once in the middle of the night for me and the little girl ..
Time to get the oldest 2 off to school

[TwoCubs]

Good morning, guys. I hear baby noises. Time to warm up the bottles. Here... Somebody take my seat and have a cup of coffee.

Mornin' FTM.

[taoistfrog]

Good morning!
I'm in the home stretch of my night shift at the hotel. Been drinking coffee all night, as usual. Gonna send my son off to Kindergarten today, then a few hours of Daddy&Daughter time with the two year old before picking up the boy. I'll get some sleep when the wife gets home...at 5...ugh.
Have a great day all y'all!

[TwoCubs]

Good day to you too, tao. Kindergarten, wow. I guess it will be here before I know it.

[Kwak]

Good morning, all.

I find myself in the odd, unfamiliar and uncomfortable situation of finally being alone and I'm left with my thoughts and a needy, yowling cat look to finally get some attention. I made the foolish attempt of fishing for sympathy from my wife via text message but she treated me with her own little brand of humor by texting back: "Seriously, you're not doing cartwheels?? Cut the grass, clean the house and cook dinner, that will keep you busy!"

I texted back "Thanks for putting me in my place." >:-(

Yup, today is the first day where both my boys are in school all day. It started off eerily calm. I set the alarm for 6:30 so that I could have enough time to get him on the bus by 7:47. Well, strangely he slept through the alarm and I took the opportunity to start breakfast for him. I got him up by 7 and he was a little grumpy - which can be tricky when you're dealing with a low functioning autistic child. Even though I'd made him some eggs and oatmeal he'd gotten in the habit of having fresh pancakes with butterscotch morsels. When I told him "not today" he took it badly and he had a little temper tantrum that resulted in the trash can getting knocked over, his oatmeal thrown at the wall and an accordian file full of important papers being swept off the desk in the living room. After cleaning that up and giving him a shower to clean him off and calm him down I'd lost all track of time. I looked out the window to see his mini bus waiting so as quickly and calmly as I could (you have to be a horse whisperer with him or he'll panic) I got him dressed, put on his crocs (he's refused to wear sneakers all summer and this was not the time to fight that battle) and his harness for the bus ride.

6yo Joey was a little easier. After running to get his big brother out the door I took a deep breath and opened his bedroom door at 8AM. Mommy had prepped him for the day by planting the suggestion that he and I lay out his clothes to wear at bedtime. Still, I was surprised when 2 minutes later my little boy came downstairs wide awake and fully dressed and smiling ear to ear. My emotions when on the uphill portion of their roller coaster ride and my heart swelled with pride. I made it a point to give him a hug and tell him I loved him. I botched the rest of the morning routine but he got ready much easier though we still had to run for the bus. He and I always like to do "one more thing" before heading out the door and this morning's thing was a quick game of little plastic pin bowling for him and me looking for my wallet, keys and cell phone.

So now I'm gathering my thoughts (and probably boring you all in the process) and listening to some iTunes as I plan the rest of the day. I've chosen the dinner for tonight and contemplating on just going to the gym and sitting in the sauna. Scattered as I am I think I've at least partly earned it. Hopefully tomorrow goes more smoothly.

[TwoCubs]

Kwak,
Just remember the "Good Wife's Guide". My wife and I still get a kick out of that. You ought pull the whole treatment on her one afternoon. Who knows... you could get a nice, evening out of the bit.

[Captain Tuttle]

Originally Posted by Kwak

So now I'm gathering my thoughts (and probably boring you all in the process) and listening to some iTunes as I plan the rest of the day. I've chosen the dinner for tonight and contemplating on just going to the gym and sitting in the sauna. Scattered as I am I think I've at least partly earned it. Hopefully tomorrow goes more smoothly.

Nah, you're a good writer. I enjoy reading your stuff.
Edit: You should start a blog

First day of school here too. Boy had some anxiety but got over it for the most part, my daughter didn't bat an eye.

[Kwak]

Originally Posted by TwoCubs

Kwak,
Just remember the "Good Wife's Guide". My wife and I still get a kick out of that. You ought pull the whole treatment on her one afternoon. Who knows... you could get a nice, evening out of the bit.

Hehe - yeah, when my wife makes those kind of comments part of me knows that they're made partly in jest but also because that's what her dad would say. Even then, I know they don't mean to be mean - it's just a lack of tact.

FWIW my wife knows I need a break and she can't begrudge me when I ask for one. Often times, I don't know what to do with myself when I do get the "time off."

BTW Tuttle, I was thinking of starting a blog but there's this little voice in my head that says I shouldn't give myself any more rope to hang myself with. Besides, with this time on my hands now I should probably be looking to make some money on the side to fund some needed home improvements. That youtube partnership thing sounds like a possible opportunity. There's got to be something I can do to put out there on that venue.

[Captain Tuttle]

Kwak, just take your posts here and throw them in a blog, you're doing the work already. Just make it anonymous if you're worried about that.

It could turn into a gig, you never know.

[Kwak]

Yeah, there are a couple autism dad blogs out there. I always thought I got a little too raw here though. All I know is that there's a lot that people AREN'T willing to share when there are those of us out there who are stumped by what we're going through and feeling all alone. The statistics I keep reading indicate otherwise though and that a lot of people have gone through the same things but are too traumatized or embarrassed by it.

Even the "vanilla" SAHD gigs seem to be more common than they were when my wife and I made the mutual decision for me to stay home NINE years ago now. My God, has it been that long? Anyway, I've been in the community with just my "normal" son and have noticed more guys with their kids. Maybe I'm just projecting my own attitudes on them but I can sense a feeling of shame or of being out of their element from some of them. For example, one guy was nagging his kids for wanting to stay in the park and play in the rain and I had to bite my tongue but thought "I've sooo been there and have done the same thing."

I've been tempted to give a couple of them a slap on the back but then it comes out here that some don't really want that sort of encouragement. That seems weird to me. Like others with more experience have said this is something important and when you commit to it you should OWN it. Without pride in what you do you're just spinning your wheels.

Like I said, "been there, done that."