Reasons to be cheerful ~ April


You know, living the life that we do, I find it necessary to push away the blues and take the time to focus on the ups. No one knows what it is like to live in our house. Only a select few are aware of the amount of care that Nick needs. Severe Autism and all that goes with it is no joke. I have down days, especially when I look too far into the future and start stressing about what is going to happen to Nick when I am too old to care for him.

Anyway, enough of all that depressing stuff for now. The point of this post is to lift myself out of the doldrums and share a few positives that made me smile.

We took Nick to Cape Town for the Easter weekend. The husband was running an Ultra Marathon and we were there as part of the support team! Cough, cough.

On the big day, we all got out of bed extremely early and dropped the husband off at the starting point. Nick didn't seem too perturbed about leaving the house in the dark, dressed in his pj's! Later that morning, we headed off to a super large shopping mall. Nick was absolutely amazing. He took in the new sights and noise with relative ease. He even tried on a few sweatshirts/rain jacket that I wanted for his brother. Due to Nick's chilled state, our shopping experience went on for a bit too long and we were late to pick up the husband at the finish of his race. Oopsie.

A while back I introduced Nick to store bought meals. Personally, I don't think they are a very healthy option and I would prefer home cooked, however, they save me a lot of grief when traveling. Nick now wolfs down Spaghetti Bolognaise, Macaroni Cheese and now a combo of the two. Talk about easy peasy!

I am really thrilled that Nick is now happy to walk into any restaurant and eat from the menu. Okay, we are choosing Italian venues at the moment because of the Spaghetti Bolognaise. But, hey, it's a start. Edge plus one and all that.

Nick is becoming a dab hand at traveling and our quality of life has improved due to his resilience and flexibility. Go Nick!

Time to start planning for our next adventure!





Ojos World





“Our



18 comments:

  1. So great to hear that you can find ways to enjoy traveling together. Our brand of autism is nothing like yours but I so very much admire your tenacity, creativity and most of all your quest to find the good. <3

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely smiley picture at the end and well done your Nick for getting through a busy people-filled day.
    Negotiating our D through a shopping centre is always a R2BC with me as she gets very easily over whelmed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Jeannette. I have a feeling that your shopping centres are a lot busier and noisier than ours!!

      Delete
  3. Lovely to hear that things are improving, and you're right, few of us know what is really involved in Nick's care, though I am sure that I am not the only one who would be interested in reading about it xx

    ReplyDelete
  4. Reading posts like this from you really make me feel cheerful too! I know you must have really down days but the leaps and bounds that your Nick is making are truly amazing. Delighted for you :-) xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, I am so glad it also made you feel cheerful, Jazzy. Thank you so much. xx

      Delete
  5. These HUGE (and they really are huge) steps forward are all down to your amazing, and patient, parenting. Well done on getting through the tough days, and improving the whole families quality of life xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right, Jo. They are huge and I am really thrilled that our quality of life is improving. xx

      Delete
  6. Those sound like huge, and life changing (for all of you) steps forward. Loved reading this post, really made me smile x #SSAA

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you,Sara. I am glad that the post made you smile.

      Delete
  7. I'm so glad you can get out and about with your son :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great picture and it sounds as if you are finding some good solutions that suit your family. Mich x

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is fantastic, I'm so glad getting out and about is getting easier. The fact that you can also eat out now as a family is amazing. All positive steps forward :0)

    Thanks for linking up with Small Steps Amazing Achievements
    x

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to leave me a comment. x