Adjusting our Sails

I really can't think of anyone that would chose to have to have padlocks on refrigerators, padlocks on cabinets, deadbolts on doors, locks on closets, lunch boxes sitting in the middle of the dining room floor...but when you have a child with Autism, and those things are needed to keep him safe, we do it. If there are things that make him happy, you do the things that make him happy. He can't always win, but if it prevents meltdowns, and it isn't hurting anything, then you just adjust your way of thinking and move on. 
In the beginning of our Autism journey, Carson didn't sleep well. It was hard to get him to sleep, and he didn't sleep well at night. Would jabber and talk all hours. We had a large master bedroom at the time, so we had 2 king size beds in our room. And Bill would sleep with one kid and I would sleep with the other. When it really became difficult for us to get a good night sleep. We moved one of the beds into the kids room, and we took turns. One of us would get the first shift with Carson, and in the middle of the night, we would switch. It was really rough, but you just have to do what works for you. The long sleepless nights have gotten so much better over the years. We might have one a month now. There are nights now that he might not go to sleep till midnight, but thankfully those long nights have improved.
I know they say don't let your kids sleep with you, but again, you have to do what you have to do, that works for you. I never once turned my boys away if they wanted to come get in bed with us. And to this day, part of Carson's routine that he has to do before he gets up in the morning, is crawl into our bed. Sometimes he will bounce around and huff and puff (in other words, MOM GET OUT OF HERE). Other times, he will crawl into bed with me and snuggle. I definitely prefer the snuggle mornings. 
We had to put locks on cabinets and the fridge because he will just keep eating if it is something that he likes. There was a time that Carson would open the doors all the time and go outside, so we had to put deadbolts on the doors. But they had to be the keyed ones on both sides, because he could unlock regular locks. 
Then there was the times that he got outside and I thought was headed towards the busy road that is right out in front of our house. And the time that during his birthday party, he was not liking all the people here, and he went out back, climbed the fence and we found him playing in the creek. (HE LOVES WATER) - so then we had to put up a chain link fence. And we made sure that any door was inside the fence. Then the fence gates had to have padlocks. We joke that we live in Fort Knox. But we have to do what we have to do to keep him safe.
I used to get so frustrated because I would make the bed, and he would just mess it up. Now, I just let it go, I still like it made, but I don't fight it. He thinks the shower curtain has to be open, he insists that his lunch box sit in the middle of the dining room (this is one battle that I am still working on), he will take everything off the counter if it is in the way of his ipad charger. One of the latest things we have had to change is where we keep our shampoo. We no longer can leave it in the shower, because he will dump it. So now you have to remember to get a towel and the shampoo before you get in. That is a huge adjustment when you have gotten in the shower for 40 years, and your bath stuff is always there. Not now. I could go on and on about things that we have had to give up on. We just have learned to choose out battles. Some we can win, some we can not. We just have to "adjust our sails" and move on.