The Journey of a Lifetime-Being Myers' Mom

On this Friday morning, the last Friday of the year, it's quiet in the house, which is really rare since we got the new dog. Myers hasn't fully warmed up to him, and I totally understand why. Bewley is ALL puppy. He is wild and has sharp teeth and wants to play. Myers is spending most of his time these days, at the bar. I said that out loud the other day and laughed, then quickly added, our kitchen bar. We have high stools and Myers is safe there. When he wakes and comes downstairs, he goes straight to the bar. When he comes home from clinic, he climbs up on his stool and sits there. He has some of his favorite things there. Food, of course, but also his new crayon color sorter, Play-Doh, etc. PS-If you have a child that likes colors and organizing, get this set. Myers had seen it on Youtube on Genevieve's Playhouse, and my sister got it for him for Christmas. Definitely a great toy. When Bewley is out for a walk with his dad, Myers will get down from his high stool and pl

I want to do all the things. This is the season for activities, after all. Christmas parties and ice skating, yes even here in Charleston this year. Christmas markets and parades. The Festival of Lights and the Night of 1000 Candles. I want to do it all. We haven't. We won't. And that's ok. On the one hand, I want to do the things. On the other hand, I too get anxiety. I've probably been anxious my whole life. At times, it's not bad. You may not know it if you see me. At other times, it's more noticeable. When my daddy died in 2010, my mother and sister suggested I get "a little something" to help with my nerves. The doctor prescribed a small dosage of Ativan. I took it for a short time. When I moved abroad on my own shortly after, it was nice to know that I had the prescription, even if I didn't take it often. Years later, when I had Myers, I started to feel it more. I didn't like changing his routine, staying out too late, making him be in th

I'm not a huge fan of breakfast. I've never liked eggs, I don't care about waffles and until recently, wasn't a pancake person either. I like an Irish breakfast, mind you, minus the eggs. I eat sausage, bacon, toast. I love a pastry. Growing up, I ate cereal ALL THE TIME. Poptarts were my jam (and when I was pregnant, cinnamon Poptarts were my midnight snack of choice). I remember eating Cream of Wheat at my grandmother's a lot. We ate grits too. As I got older, I started eating oatmeal. Oh, and now, I am a huge fan of avocado toast. I wish Myers would eat avocado...in time perhaps. Like many autistic children, Myers is a picky eater, as I'm sure you've gathered. He gets enough to eat, but not always all the right nutrition. He eats plenty of fruit. We're still working on veggies. The veggies he gets are from the organic pouches, and occasionally, I can sneak them into my baking. That's what we have discovered works best for Myers' breakfasts. I

As I mentioned in one of the previous posts, our family made a BIG change this summer when we got Myers' diagnosis and the suggestion that he go gluten, dairy and soy free. Because Chance has Crohn's, he should have made these dietary changes a long time ago, but for whatever reason, it never really clicked for him, until a few months ago. Better late than never, right? Before the diagnosis, Myers ate potato chips, white cheddar cheese puffs, peanut butter and jelly on "regular," glutenous bread, muffins, pancakes, French fries, some crackers, lots of fruits, baby food pouches, cookies and any chocolate cake/candy. That was about it. He used to eat meatballs and chicken nuggets, but went about a year with no meat. He's expanding his horizons, finally, but we still don't get any real veggies in him.    For me personally, I didn't think going gluten free would be the end of the world. I mean, I lived in Italy when my friend thought he had Celiac Disease, and

I last wrote about something that happened in the present, but it's only fitting I should use one of my favorite literary techniques (for those that don't know, I'm an English teacher) and flash back to what happened after the diagnosis. As I mentioned before, we got the diagnosis at the end of June, 2022. That night, I called or emailed a number of ABA clinics (13 to be exact). I heard back from one person pretty quickly, and when we left our hotel in the upstate of South Carolina and drove to Washington D.C. for our summer vacation, I spent much of my time chatting with this one particular gentleman from a local clinic in Charleston. He was above and beyond. I don't know if he just REALLY wanted our business, or if he's really that passionate about ABA and wanted to steer us in the right direction. Quick sidebar, ABA stands for Applied Behavior Analysis. The doctor in Simpsonville said it's not the "end all be all," but she recommended it with a chan

Lord have mercy. Today has been a doozy. It's Sunday, November 27. We had every intention of getting up and getting ready for church today. Around 9:30, I got a text from the bank asking if I'd made a $30 purchase. When I checked my account, there were 5 charges, all to the same place, and all for about $30. I spent the next half hour on the phone with the bank getting my card deactivated and discussing my next steps.  A little while later, I told Chance I wanted to go get our Christmas tree. I've wanted to decorate for a week now, but he's a "only after Thanksgiving" kind of guy and we haven't had any time this weekend. So, I walked out to the car, put Myers in, closed the doors, and that's when I heard it. The doors locked. With Myers inside. And my keys. And my phone. Panic. When we were traveling last week, I put both my key and my spare in my purse because the batteries were going low and I wanted to make sure we were ok driving. My phone will unl