Children on the spectrum are a handful. From screaming all day, to tantrums, to sensory overloads, to not listening to a damn thing I’ve said all day. The person who stares at you in the store during one of your child’s meltdown is already annoyed of the screaming. Little do they know, its not a discipline issue, my child isn’t spoiled, my child is autistic and this is the 6th meltdown of the day. Especially during therapy, my child is a time bomb that gets detonated by the smallest of things. The simple phrase, “Let’s pick up the toys before we play with the iPad” will send him running and screaming.
To be a parent of a child like mine, you’d think I would be able to block these tantrums out; and for the most part I can. But there are definitely days were I’m ready to run down the street screaming. When my husband gets home from work I collapse on the couch under a blanket and hope Eli doesn’t find me. Sometimes you just have those days where you can’t skip over the tantrums, where you hear EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. Today is one of those days. I usually just end my night with two or three glasses of wine and the tension melts away, unfortunately for me I’m on a diet and have no wine in the house. So I will just keep it in until bed then sleep it away.
One thing to always remember is TOMORROW IS A NEW DAY. Wake up feeling refreshed, forget about the bad day you just had, and look at today with a positive attitude. Yes, my child is a lot of work, but I wouldn’t trade him for any other child. Because behind those screams and tantrum is a boy with so much joy and laughter its infectious. He is the sweetest boy I’ve ever met. I just need to remember that when he’s driving me crazy.
Mastering Motherhood 