I thought a lot about this one, whether I wanted to keep the tone light, or round out some of the experiences we’ve had raising a child on the autism spectrum (high functioning though she may be). I wasn’t looking for a fond, proud, or pleasant moment. I was thinking about throwing in one that represented the opposite of all those things. I finally decided on a compromise. In a way…

Counting down the days until Beth’s thirteenth birthday with a few reposts from the archives. Originally posted: Apr 30, 2003, Beth’s age: 5 Stop me if you have heard this story before: A little kid goes potty and has a little too much fun with the toilet paper. Three towels, two liberal applications of disinfectant, one roll of paper products, and at least half a dozen months of life…

Counting down the days until Beth’s thirteenth birthday with a few reposts from the archives. Originally posted: Apr 7, 2003, Beth’s age: 5 Beth has gone in for surgery twice in her lifetime. The first time she had a kidney removed. The second time she had tubes put into her ears. On Tuesday, she is scheduled for her third surgery, to remove the tubes previously placed in her ears. We were…

Counting down the days until Beth’s thirteenth birthday with a few reposts from the archives. Originally posted: Feb 26, 2003, Beth’s age: 5 We have known Beth to be influenced by TV advertising for some time. When she was three years old and could barely pronounce her full name she could, with perfect TV announcer intonation, declare to mommy and daddy that she really wanted “Cinderella…

Counting down the days until Beth’s thirteenth birthday with a few reposts from the archives. Originally posted: Jan 29, 2003, Beth’s age: 5 In kindergarten, there apparently is a no moving around policy in the lunch room. In other words, once you find a seat you stay in it until you are done. Beth has been given an exception to this rule. She has been told that if someone at her table is…

Counting down the days until Beth’s thirteenth birthday with a few reposts from the archives. Originally posted: Jan 15, 2003, Beth’s age: 5 Mommy and Daddy were having a little disagreement. Beth was caught in the middle, sitting at the table trying to do her homework. After this discussion began to wind down and mommy left the room, Beth called out, “mommy, stop being…

Counting down the days until Beth’s thirteenth birthday with a few reposts from the archives. Originally posted: Jan 22, 2003, Beth’s age: 5 I consider it a natural law of the human experience; we tend to find more joy in the unexpected moments than in those that are more routine. If there is anything that makes me feel like a failure as a parent, it is that neither myself nor my wife has more…

Counting down the days until Beth’s thirteenth birthday with a few reposts from the archives. Originally posted: Nov 13, 2002, Beth’s age: 5 Veteran’s Day is a holiday for state employees in Florida. It is not a school holiday. Little did we know, our alarm was about to take a holiday too. It was seven-thirty, a full hour after Cheryl and I had hoped to be up. We had exactly thirty…

Counting down the days until Beth’s thirteenth birthday with a few reposts from the archives. Originally posted: Jan 20, 2002, Beth’s age: 4 Title: One tooth, three teeth Beth is holding three pencil erasers in the shape of teeth. She advises me (in her typically loud fashion, as if from half way across the house) she has three toothes. Recognizing the grammatical error, I explain to her she…