ChapelHillSooner
Distinguished Member
- Messages
- 405
I may be a little over emotional because of the election but I'm just at the end of my rope with my son.
Let me explain yesterday to give you an idea of what a normal day looks like. The day started with him peeing in the bed. He's potty trained but if you don't tell him to go to the bathroom he'll often just pee. I stripped everything from the bed and washed it. I ended up putting everything on his bed but not making it. While dropping him off at school, I spent five minutes trying to get a 6'2" 220 lbs kid out of the car. It's not that he didn't want to go to school. It is just he didn't feel it necessary to get out of the car at that moment.
At night he took the mattress protector along with all of the towels that were out and soaked them in his bathroom sink. So now I don't have a mattress protector for his bed. He also got every bit of soap out of underneath he sink and spread it all over the bathroom.
Keep in mind my son is 15. So I lose it and yell and him that he can't make a mess like that. His response is to giggle and repeat the word "mess". If I don't lose it, he doesn't understand that I am mad. In either case, he doesn't ever understand why I am mad.
He also flooded the kitchen floor (hardwood) as he does almost daily. The day before he had diarrhea in his pants which he spread to the couch. Every hour I have to sweep up huge piles of food.
Imagine having a 15 year old who is essentially a one year old. I know Autism is a wide spectrum but people who have higher functioning kids really have no clue what my life is like. My wife and I are separated so we get a break 50% of the time but no help that other 50%.
The one thing that gets me through days is the knowledge that I have a pretty good life insurance. Don't get me wrong, I am not suicidal but that being an out is comforting. (I've had the policy a lot longer than what is required to pay out for that.). Either way, I am 53 and the stress will probably kill me within 10 years. I have come to accept that. (My sister died at 58 and while her drinking may have be a major contributor to her stroke, family history isn't on my side.)
Anyway, politics is a welcome distraction but not so much nowadays. Thanks for listening. This is sort of my community.
Let me explain yesterday to give you an idea of what a normal day looks like. The day started with him peeing in the bed. He's potty trained but if you don't tell him to go to the bathroom he'll often just pee. I stripped everything from the bed and washed it. I ended up putting everything on his bed but not making it. While dropping him off at school, I spent five minutes trying to get a 6'2" 220 lbs kid out of the car. It's not that he didn't want to go to school. It is just he didn't feel it necessary to get out of the car at that moment.
At night he took the mattress protector along with all of the towels that were out and soaked them in his bathroom sink. So now I don't have a mattress protector for his bed. He also got every bit of soap out of underneath he sink and spread it all over the bathroom.
Keep in mind my son is 15. So I lose it and yell and him that he can't make a mess like that. His response is to giggle and repeat the word "mess". If I don't lose it, he doesn't understand that I am mad. In either case, he doesn't ever understand why I am mad.
He also flooded the kitchen floor (hardwood) as he does almost daily. The day before he had diarrhea in his pants which he spread to the couch. Every hour I have to sweep up huge piles of food.
Imagine having a 15 year old who is essentially a one year old. I know Autism is a wide spectrum but people who have higher functioning kids really have no clue what my life is like. My wife and I are separated so we get a break 50% of the time but no help that other 50%.
The one thing that gets me through days is the knowledge that I have a pretty good life insurance. Don't get me wrong, I am not suicidal but that being an out is comforting. (I've had the policy a lot longer than what is required to pay out for that.). Either way, I am 53 and the stress will probably kill me within 10 years. I have come to accept that. (My sister died at 58 and while her drinking may have be a major contributor to her stroke, family history isn't on my side.)
Anyway, politics is a welcome distraction but not so much nowadays. Thanks for listening. This is sort of my community.