Image credit: Photo by codepo8 on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons Most kids (at least those who grow up in safe, middle class, American neighborhoods) don't see every new face at the front door (from evangelists to pizza delivery guys) as a potential threat. But Austen is not most kids. Unless they come bearing an [...]
Posts under ‘parenting’
The Ghost of Me
Image credit: Photo by h.koppdelaney on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons This summer, I've been keeping the kids busy by running them around outside and spending lots of time splashing around in the water. The idea has been to wear them down so that they go to bed on time (an idea which totally has [...]
Summer Solitude
Image credit: Photo by photo71 on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons I'm not one to keep busy during the summer, at least not in the sense of running the kids from place to place, activity to activity. Yet, not being busy — whether inside inside the house playing board games or (more often) just keeping [...]
What Autism Is Supposed to Look Like
Image credit: Photo by cproppe on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons We took the kids to a pool party at the home of some friends of mine recently. The hosts, as well as several guests, moved a fair drive away from us several years ago, and several more guests were visiting from out of town. [...]
The Racial Issue
Image credit: Photo by GarySmith70 on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons "Mama, I'm half black, half white," Janie calls to me from where she's playing in the living room. I'd been wondering when this day would come, the day when my biracial daughter would finally notice race and start talking about herself in racial terms. [...]
Austen Does It Himself
"Hey, let's go swimming!" In his enthusiasm, Austen tears off clothes. He grabs his swim suit and for the first time ever puts it on himself. He rushes outside, swim trunks proudly on... Backwards. Off we go, smiling.
Happy to Be Gadget Free
Image credit: Photo by Capture Queen ™ on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons It's summer, and my kids have been begging to spend every free moment of their time (and there are more free moments at this time of year than any other) in the nearest body of water that will hold them. Ok, that's [...]
Learning to Climb
Image credit: Photo by weesen on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons Yesterday, I took my kids out to the park and watched my son, long and lanky, swing his way to the top of a climbing structure formed from a maze of ropes. Like many autistic individuals, mastering motor skills can be a challenge for [...]
This Isn’t About Jon and Kate
At some point in the last year, a friend's Facebook status referred to something called "Jon and Kate Plus 8." Disconnected as I am from pop culture, I had to google the term to figure out what she was talking about. (And then I had to google "Bradley Whitford and Jane Kaczmarek" when another friend [...]
The Leisurely Life of a Stay-at-Home Mom
Image credit: Art by georgia.g on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons When my son was first born, I actually spent some time doing that thing that we stay-at-home moms supposedly spend our lazy, bon-bon eating days doing: I watched television. Now, I know, folks who haven't actually been stay-at-home parents to a colicky infant -- [...]
