The Bright Side

So today, like pretty much every other day, there was a frustrating moment.  Carson got his afternoon snack (leftover birthday cake) and took it back to our bedroom to eat it. On our bed! So cake crumbs everywhere. Making the bed was not on my to do list tonight. But the brightside is, tonight I will crawl into a bed with clean sheets. 

Having a 17 year old that still can’t wipe himself after going to bathroom, bright side is, he isn’t in diapers, he uses the toilet, he just can’t make his brain figure out the wiping technique. 

When we have nights where Carson will talk and talk till well after bedtime and we’re ready to scream, we have to look at the bright side that it isn’t back when he was like 5,6,7 and he would be awake ALL NIGHT  long! (I don’t know how the kid could go on like 2-3 hours sleep)

When it is bath night and the boy takes a good 45 minutes to dry himself off after baths, at least the boy will take a bath without a fight. He loves his baths. 

I have said many, many times that Autism is not a life threatening illness, it is life altering. Yes, my son has daily struggles, he is classified as non verbal (he does speak, but very little spontaneous conversation),  he will never have a normal life,  but there is a bright side. He isn’t one of the Autistic kids that hit others or himself, he isn’t violent, he does interact with us, he interacts with family and friends, he smiles, he hugs. He will get to grow up, he isn’t sick or have some illness that will take him from us.

So many times when thing happen, I have to look for the bright side. If I don’t it will totally loose my mind. People say all the time, I have the patience of a saint. I think if you were at my house every day you would realize I loose my patience a fair amount. I just have to walk away. I take my baths almost nightly to be able to relax and get me brain back to zen. 

There is always, always something to be thankful for, and there is always a bright side. Even when we don’t see it at that moment.