It's Autism Awareness month. For my family, every day is Autism Awareness. Living with Autism means that you see things differently than the rest of the world. The whole point of this month is that the Autism community wants to be accepted for their differences. People with Autism march to the beat of a different drummer. Heck, they march to their own drummer! When my boys were diagnosed, I realized that their world would be different than their typical peers. And my world would be different as well. But different isn't bad. It's just, well, different.
When I first started attending my church, I tried to join a moms group. I attended the first 2 meetings, where we learned how to navigate high school issues such as how to balance AP classes and requirements for college. I dropped out of that group quickly. My world was different than those moms. Not less than. Just different. And that's ok. In fact, it's more than ok. It can be pretty awesome!
I love my family. This is a happy home. My kids bring me so much joy. We have so many wonderful memories as a family. And I know we will have many more in the future. I would not have it any other way. But to deny the fact that it isn't hard sometimes would be a lie. For the most part, I think we have carved a pretty nice life for our boys. They are happy, have made huge progress since moving out of California, and they are pretty damn awesome! But there are hard times. There are plenty of hard times. What family does not experience hard times though?
There are times when I have no idea what to do next. I'm at a complete loss. Admitting that you have no idea what to do is not an easy thing. I'm someone who likes to take control of a situation. So throwing my hands up and saying I have no idea what to do is terrifying. But I have loved the journey. My sons have made me a stronger, more patient person. I know more about Marvel or DC Comics, or Star Wars. Yes, I'm a huge Star Wars fan, and these kids still beat me with their Star Wars facts. The facts they can recite really boggles the mind. I have no idea how they remember these things. Noah could name the most obscure actor, and recite every movie they have appeared in. He can list every single character Mark Hamill has voiced. I wish I could soak up some of their brain power. And Nikolas is such a responsible, compassionate soul. He has a unique perspective. Like the time he got in my car after school, and I noticed that his shirt was inside out and backwards. I have a bad habit of laughing at inappropriate times, so of course I started to laugh at this. I apologized and asked him if he was embarrassed that he wore his shirt like that all day. He said no. "Why? I didn't noticed." Well, that's a good point, Nik!
