We’re Doing Something Completely Mind-Blowingly Radical Tonight!

—

December 16, 2012

We’re doing something completely mind-blowingly radical tonight!

The wife and I are going to a family member’s house for a pre-Christmas family get-together without Kyle! This is gonna blow our family’s minds!

var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push([‘_setAccount’, ‘UA-25522671-1’]);
_gaq.push([‘_trackPageview’]);

(function() {
var ga = document.createElement(‘script’); ga.type = ‘text/javascript’; ga.async = true;
ga.src = (‘https:’ == document.location.protocol ? ‘https://ssl’ : ‘http://www’) + ‘.google-analytics.com/ga.js’;
var s = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();

First, a little back-story. We had my extended family over for pizza last night. We were 15 people altogether. We usually host a Saturday night pizza night for my side of the family a week or two before Christmas. And my aunt does something similar. On a Sunday evening before Christmas she hosts a coffee & desert get-together at her house.

So pretty much the same family members we saw last night at my house we would see tonight at my aunt’s.

And lately on Sunday evenings the wife & I have had some respite. We have a great sitter / respite worker. He is the older brother of one of Kyle’s ASD friends. He is 19 and he is awesome! And Kyle loves him and is always so mellow when he is around. Let’s call him “Bill”

We currently get 6 hours of respite per week through our Medicaid Waiver. I know I need to write another blog post about respite workers and medicaid waivers, etc, etc. So save your questions about that.

But anyway… So we’ve had a nice routine for the past few Sundays. We would get Bill around 5pm. And the wife and I would sneak out to dinner & a movie…or we’d do a little shopping or whatever.

But tonight we thought we cancelled Bill because we were going to my Aunt’s house for desert around 5:30pm with Kyle.

However, around noon today Bill texted the wife to say, “what time should I be there today?”

First we were like, “let’s cancel him”

And then it dawned on us. We could go to my aunt’s house without him!

ME: “but is that wrong?”

WIFE: “well where would Kyle have a better time? home with Bill or at Aunt Linda’s house where he goes once a year?”

ME: “that’s true…but it’s gonna BLOW THEIR MINDS when we show up without him…”

And it is Sun 5:20pm and that is where we are headed. We are headed to my aunt’s house for desert & coffee…without Kyle. And for some strange reason I’m more excited about this than getting out for dinner & a movie.

The wife and I both get to sit down at the table AT THE SAME TIME and enjoy our desert? No taking turns & tag team parenting? AWESOME!!

Maybe I’ll even have a few glasses of alcohol…just to celebrate! 🙂

Do I feel guilty? Not really. If it was somebody’s birthday or actually Christmas dinner or a big occasion maybe I’d feel guilty… but this is the kind of occasion that a typical 9 year old probably wouldn’t want to go to anyway.

And right now Kyle is sitting on the couch next to Bill with a big smile on his face. He is so happy to have Bill here.

So I go back to what the wife said. “where would Kyle have a better time?”

So we are heading out… but it is gonna blow our family’s minds!

“Where is he?? With who? But, huh?”

It should be an interesting evening

Written by

Frank Campagna

I’m a 48 year old neurotypical dad with a 14 year old son with severe, non-verbal autism & epilepsy. I created this blog to rant about autism & epilepsy while celebrating my son who I affectionately call “the king” :-).

Conversation (13)

Bookmark

We’re Doing Something Completely Mind-Blowingly Radical Tonight!

12 Things I Let My Son w/ Autism Do That Most Parents Of Typical Kids Wouldn't Allow

You Can Get a Handicap Parking Permit If Your Kid Has Autism

Autism and Potty Training: A Step By Step Guide Of What Has Worked For Us... sorta.