“He has autism,” I say. These words are so limp and useless. They are inadequate and meaningless. The yawning gap between those 3 words and our reality is so hard to describe. I want to be understood, but the truth is, I barely understand it myself. My guess is that you have something like that,… Continue reading I hate you, Mommy
I’d like to think that my master’s degree in marriage and family therapy and 3 years of total immersion soaking in wisdom from the greatest counselors and professors in the area would qualify me to a better understanding of what makes marriages work. What makes them last. But the truth is, knowledge can only take… Continue reading learning to love
Part 2 of 2. Some more practical advice for fulfilling sex with your husband: Find your "at least" number: How much sex should you be aiming for? What’s normal? And the answer is….(drumroll please) that’s up to you and your husband. I advise that you sit down with your husband and ask him what he… Continue reading How to get in the mood, II
Part 1 of 2 For most women, myself included, having little kids has made the journey to the bedroom with my husband a little bit more complicated. I've had many clients lament why God made men and women's sexual desire so very different. I have a theory about that. I think maybe God made us… Continue reading How to get in the mood
I’ve been a full-time stay at home mom for 2 months, so now I'm clearly an expert on the matter. I’ve got this insider look into why being a working mom is hard, and why being a stay at home mom is hard. This is why I refuse to judge other moms. We are all… Continue reading How to survive being a stay-at-home mom
I couldn't share this picture until now. It was Caleb's first day of Kindergarten, a day we were not celebrating because of how painful it was. I was desperately worried about Caleb, being pushed into this situation a month after being in another classroom with his close friends, to being in a classroom twice the size and not… Continue reading Acceptance
How do we know Caleb has autism? Well, as you saw in my last post, it was not a simple process for us because Caleb is very high functioning. His challenges are often unnoticeable... until they aren't. It's been harder to understand him because he has so many times where he can "perform" or behave like a… Continue reading How do you know?
"If you have seen a child with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), you have seen ONE child with ASD." Autism is a spectrum of neurobehavioral disorders with manifested symptoms in an individual child that are unique (Mark Mancino, M.D.). This means that the difference between mild ASD and severe ASD, plus everything in between is profound.… Continue reading one child with Autism
To my boys, As I write this letter, you are 1 and 3 years old. You are often difficult, moody, picky, stubborn, and self-centered. You are also very sweet, and cuddly. Watching you discover this world, staring at your beautiful faces...I could do it forever. Your little voices are second sweetest sound in the world,… Continue reading a letter to my future children
After finding out my mother died when I was 1 year old, I once had a well-meaning friend say, “well, at least you didn’t know her so you can’t miss her.” I don’t remember how I responded, but despite knowing she didn’t mean anything harmful by it, it felt like a giant slap in the… Continue reading mom
our messy joyful life 