Surprises

Surprises can come in many ways shapes and forms to all of us.  For some of us a surprise is a birthday party.  For others it could be an unexpected bonus at work.  It could be a pregnancy.  Maybe it’s seeing someone you haven’t seen in a long time.

For me right now my surprise has been my family.  Especially our son.  As you may or may not be aware having autism can bring with it certain expectations.  These include structure and knowing what to expect.  It is important for lots of people but more for our son.  It reduces his anxiety and allows him to have some sense of control over his day and his time.

Recently in our family our world was turned upside down.  So the sameness and the expectations as well as the changes were huge and they happened every single day.

I wasn’t able to be at home for a few days and when I did return, I wasn’t able to do the things I normally did.  I needed help.

We thought that this was going to be extremely difficult and we didn’t know what to expect but we had to get through it as we had no other choice.

We discovered how amazing both of our kids can be when under difficult circumstances.  We felt our son not only adjusted to others around him but stepped in and helped.  He didn’t complain or get upset.  He just went with the flow and accepted that I couldn’t do very much.

For anyone dealing with autism, this is huge!  Just changing people, routines or whatever can throw a child off, but my child rocked it.  Both my children did!

This could have gone either way…

So when I want to complain about something that our son didn’t do, I don’t because I have to remember all the positive things he has done and is doing.

Surprises or unexpected things will happen in life.  These can throw our organized world into chaos but they can also be a good learning experience for life and this is how I choose to see it.

I’m very grateful and blessed to have two amazing children who love me.