Today I took the girls to get their hair cut. They were so excited about it. I let them look at the books with all the kids’ haircuts in them and they decided together to get chin length bobs. When Ms. Deri asked Zoe what she wanted, she said, “I want it like this,” and […]

A few mornings ago, Zoe wandered in and asked, “Mommy, what will Adam be when he grows up?” “I don’t know.  What do you want to be when you grow up?” “I want to be a doctor.”  She said it matter-of-factly, like she’d been thinking about it. “Wow.  That’s a great thing to be.”  I […]

Last night, Riley brought us laugh-out-loud laughter and sharp tears all in the same night. As Kevin was correcting Adam, Riley got a little defensive. She spoke to her dad sharply and with resolution.  “Why you saying that?  He’s a man.  He’s handsome.” And then to Adam, sincerely, “You’re beautiful, Adam.” The tears came later, […]

Yesterday, I had to take Zoe to the pediatrician’s office so that the doctor could take a look at her ears and make sure that her ear infection was indeed gone. As we were sitting in the exam room, waiting on the doctor, Zoe was chattering as usual about a million different things. Mid-sentence, she […]

Over the weekend, something happened that will be going in my son’s scrapbook, right next to a picture of him talking on the telephone.   If you don’t know Adam well, the first thing you need to know is that when he grows up, he will be Mr. Monk.  Autism produces some hilarious behaviors in […]

Recently, Riley’s mainstream first grade class had a substitute. The kids were… being kids with a substitute. They were going nuts.   Now, I have to ask: Do you remember what it was like when your class had a substitute teacher? Do you remember what your most frequent sub was like? I remember that there […]

My little girl is growing up, and I love seeing it happen!  I now have a personal assistant.  I had heard about this happening in other families as children start to grow up and mature, but honestly, I wondered when and if it would happen in mine. First, I should tell you that Riley has […]

Not too long ago, I heard an interview with an autistic man who was talking about his childhood. He said, “My mom always insisted that I greet everyone whom I approached or who approached me. I didn’t understand why this was so important to her or why she got so upset with me when I […]

Every day begins pretty much the same around here (well at least the weekdays). Kevin and I wake up early, early to exercise and spend some quiet moments with God before the kids wake up. Riley has a sign on her closet door instructing her to go to the bathroom and go back to bed […]

We are so pitiful. Last Saturday, forecasters predicted that we could see 3 to 4 inches of snow, with flurries starting around noon. As usual, Riley started the day asking Kevin to take her to the park, so we told her that it was REALLY cold outside and that it might snow, and so we […]