This One's For You

I haven't blogged in a while and let's face it...I haven't had time.  Since school has been out we have been on a roller coaster of dysfunction.  Schedules are out the window, house looks like disaster zone, and there is no rhyme or reason to be found.  But that is okay...this is our life and we have to live it.

I am not going to stress over it too much.  I am keeping meltdowns to a minimal these days basically trying to keep everyone happy.  If that means a little dysfunction then so be it. 

I am happy to report that usually my children on the spectrum dominate our time and the rest of us and our neurotypical children take a backseat to the madness but for the past few weeks our world has been revolving around my ten year old.  My ten year old is usually always the child that gets put on the back burner at our house because of autism.  He does what he is asked, makes straight As in school, is well-behaved and for the most part goes with the flow.  Sometimes this is hard for him though, and as a parent it is hard to watch.  I know it isn't fair for us parents to be dealt the hand of autism, and for some of us it is more than one child in the house with autism.  But, how unfair is it for our children that aren't autistic?  They certainly didn't ask for this and most of the time my son is accepting and understanding.  Then there are times where he gets frustrated, just like me, and wants to curse autism. 

Landon plays baseball and it is his thing.  It is his outlet...his time to shine.  It causes lots of upheaval in our house of autism, but I cannot deny my son his love of baseball and his time to break away from the madness.  I have hauled up and down the roads to baseball games all season.  I have toted my two year old kicking and screaming in the throws of autism to the car.  I have chased him around and around on the baseball field with nothing more than the length of his harness keeping him from disaster.  We have gotten home so late that all bedtime routines and schedules were merely a memory.  But it has been worth it just to see Landon smile.  It has been worth all the bumps and curves just to see him in the spotlight for once...not being pushed to the back of the line.  So this blog is usually dedicated to my children on the spectrum, but today it is dedicated to the unsung child.  The child that accepts.  The child that never complains.  The child that is a hero to his brothers.  The child that deserves every once in a while to just be a child and not a miniature adult. 

This is Landon pitching during his regular season with the Contentnea Indians 10-U baseball team. 

These are pictures of Landon playing in the All-Star Tournament.  We had to drive over an hour away for three days for him to play in the tournament.  It was great to show Landon that our family can make sacrafices for him just like the other children.

This is Landon on July 4th with the Kinston Indians, our local minor league baseball team.  They are a division of the Cleveland Indians.  This was a big day for a ten year old little boy who loves the game. 

So, yes, our summer has been crazy and dysfunctional.  I have laundry piled up and housework to do.  I have pushed my children with autism to their breaking points, along with mine and my husband's sanity.  But lots of special things have happened for a child that never complains, always perserveres, and somehow endures this life that he didn't ask for.  This one is for you, Landon.