We have made it to Friday of April vacation week! I have to say this has been one of the better vacation weeks we have had in a while. Usually by the Friday of a vacation week I am extremely burned out and exhausted. It can be very overwhelming having Peter home, our 11 y.o. with autism, and having to be "on" every moment of the day and night(especially when the nights don't go so well and I end up very sleep deprived on top of it all!)
Having the nice weather was definitely helpful. It makes a big difference when the sun is shining and you can open the windows to let the fresh air in. Don't get me wrong...it wasn't a week of pure bliss and angels singing! I'm just grateful that it didn't suck every last drop of emotional energy out of my being!
I am so grateful to be in a good place that I would like to share a funny story to hopefully give you a good laugh! God knows we all need to laugh more.
My top three most embarrassing moments:
#3 We were at Disney and had just gotten off the tram in the parking lot to go back to the car. Sarah was 18 months old and I had her in an umbrella stroller. I was trying too hard to make sure all the boys, (who were 4 1/2, 5 1/2, and 7 1/2), were safe and I wasn't paying attention in front of me. I hadn't buckled Sarah in and she had slid out of the carriage so I was half running her over but she wasn't saying a word. Everyone in the tram was yelling, "You're running over the baby!" Definitely not the gold star day of motherhood!
#2 We were at a pond with all the kids before Luke was born. Peter, who was 8 at the time, has an obsession with skin. He is especially obsessed with heavy people with exposed skin. On this particular day there was an extremely obese man floating in the water. We knew Peter saw him. We were being extremely diligent to keep him away. Peter was like a heat seeking missile, however, and the one minute Jay turned away from him when I was getting lunch ready, Peter rushed over to the poor man. Before we could stop him, Peter rubbed his arm and squeezed his rather large...umm....man boob. The poor man started freaking out and flailing in the water. No amount of apology or explanation of Peter's disorder on our part made any difference. He was completely flabbergasted and we were mortified.
#1 We were at Mass one Sunday when Peter was around 7. He was always a wiggly kid. But this particular Sunday, right during the Consecration, Peter bolted from next to Jay in the pew. Before we even realized what was happening he ran right up onto the altar, and grabbed our Pastor's vestments. God bless Father Dan who didn't even get distracted. Jay grabbed Peter and brought him into the cry room. I was so shocked I started laughing and couldn't stop. Then I started laughing and crying and couldn't stop. Eventually I was just crying. Mike was sitting next to me and was looking at me like I was a crazy person! I managed to pull myself together in order to walk to Communion. After Mass, we waited until the entire church had just about cleared out because we were so embarrassed. One of the women who, at the time I didn't know very well but is now a close friend, came over and gave me a hug and told me to have a good day. One of Jon's friend's grandmother was sitting a few pews behind us and called out to me after church. She said to me, with tears in her eyes, "He knew Who he was running to!" Tears filled my eyes and all I could do was nod. God used a very embarrassing situation to touch at least one person. Since then, we have always sat in a side pew with Peter closest to the wall....that's definitely a situation we would rather not repeat!
The joys of parenting...especially with a child with special needs!
