Can you say "STRESSED OUT" - For those of you who know me, have lived with me, gone to school with me, etc, you know that I am a creature of stress - and in my adult life I have continued to be a pretty stressed-out person. I attribute a lot of that to my personality, but especially in the last 5 years I think it has stemmed from my difficult pregnancy with Katie and her resulting autism diagnosis.
If you have never lived with an autistic child I will just tell you that there is no good way to describe it. It is a 24/7/365 job - it is constant, unrelenting and at times, physically and emotionally draining. Bill & I live in a constant state of tiredness, although I do for the most part get a lot more sleep than I did in college. We are 24 hour policemen, security guards, fire-fighters, cooks, maids, butlers, chauffeurs - like a lot of parents - just to a different level. I live in a "Katie-proofed" home - but it is far from stress-free. The fear of having her escape the house to run away and never again be heard from is a real life daily fear and struggle.
We are thrilled to have this new class at school for Katie. I think the all-day class will be good for her - and good for me. With the way my work schedule is set up I will usually have 2 weekdays at home without kids to get things done. My house (theoretically) will be clean and thus my stress levels should drop.
Well stress equals tired and sleepy - so I should probably go...lots of pictures to post tomorrow. Good Night.