Those "Other" Mothers

I have been super blessed to have had "other" moms throughout my life that have helped mold and form me into the woman I am today. You know these women, they are the ones not related to you by "blood" but rather related by love! One of those "moms" was actually my own mom's best friend. Her name was Mary Ann. She was never able to have children of her own and she kind of "adopted" my brother, sister and I. Mary Ann and her husband, Harold, lived right next door to my family growing up and I spent quite a bit of time at their house. I love to bake (as I've mentioned many times in my blog) and so did Mary Ann. She was known for her amazing, "Mary Ann's Chocolate Cake." She also made the most incredible cookies with cream cheese. I am lucky enough to have both recipes in my recipe collection. When she and her hubby moved to Iowa, I visited her a handful of times. Sadly, both Mary Ann and her husband have both passed on, but they are never far from my thoughts. This is from quite awhile ago, hence the bad perm and big glasses, but I still love this picture!!

Another "mom" that was very special to me was my mother-in-law. This is the second Mother's Day that I have not had her with me and I still think of her often. My husband was her only child and sometimes she and I would have our moments with each other, but by and large she and I had a pretty good relationship. Her name was Cecelia, but I don't think I ever called her that. My stepson's nickname for her was "Umba" because I think he couldn't say Grandma when he was little. Towards the last couple years of her life, she told me she really didn't like that name anymore, so we started calling her "Momma."

Last, but definitely not least, my third "mom" has to be "Auntie." She was married to my mom's brother. She and I have forged an incredibly close relationship for which I am thankful for all the time. My "Auntie" loves my family and is always willing to let me go on and on talking about them (which with my big yap can sometimes be a long time)!!! I can be 100% myself with her (she has known me since I was in diapers).

She has had to deal with a lot of loss in her life, but she keeps on "plugging" along. She has to be one of the strongest women I know. Her daughter (my cousin) passed away a little over a year ago. That truly has to be one of the hardest things a mom can go through. She and I are so "busy" that we have to plan out our phone calls about a week ahead of time. I adore her and love her with all of my heart. If you are lucky enough to have one or more of those "other" moms in your life, tell them how much you love and appreciate them, ALOT!

A Book Every Autism Mom Should Read

When Dominic was diagnosed with Autism at 2 1/2, I went to our local library and took out every book I could find about Autism. Sometimes I would bring back 20 books. This was 2006, so a lot of the information was very "dated." I guess I was looking for a book that would tell me what I should do next, like a "manual." Autism doesn't quite work that way! The saying is, " if you know one person with Autism, you know one person with Autism." Every mom to an individual with Autism follows their own "path." I think as moms, we judge ourselves much harder than anyone else does. I was 41 when I had Dominic. Did he get the diagnosis of Autism because I was an older mom? because I drank a lot of pop? I could sit and think about that every minute of every day. I am pretty integrated into the Autism community around Lansing and have told more than one person that it took me about two weeks to come to terms with Dominic's diagnosis. It is so incredib...

Mainstreaming and Inclusion

The hubby and I were discussing the other day how special education students were treated back when he and I were in school. He remarked to me that in his time, they were "hidden away" from the rest of the students. When I was in elementary school, I can remember seeing the kids in those classrooms pass by us in the hallway. I don't ever recall seeing them in the lunchroom or playground. I'm so glad that times have changed. Even though Dominic is in a "self-contained" special education classroom, he does get to go to the art, gym and music classrooms. He also gets to eat lunch in the school cafeteria. He loves hot lunch on Thursday - pizza!! Given Dominic's abilities, he is able to be "mainstreamed" into the general education classroom for small amounts of time. Every moment he is able to do that gives me so much hope for his future. I absolutely love what Dominic's current teacher is doing. He has started a peer-to-peer progra...

It's a "Group" Effort

Since going to the local barbershop is still not allowed where we live, it fell upon us to figure out the best way to shave Dominic's beard and mustache. Typically, Dominic goes to our local barbershop to get his haircut and his barber (Vince) also takes about 30 seconds to shave the beard and mustache. This August, it will be five years that Dominic has been going to Vince. That in itself is a huge milestone as anyone with a child/adult with sensory sensitivities knows. Anyways, earlier in the week my hubby, Lauren and I had all noticed that Dominic's facial hair definitely needed some assistance. I mentioned to Lauren that I needed to find a "social story" about getting a shave. Before I had a chance to find one, she took it upon herself to find one and print it out, it had both an electric shaver and shaving cream/razor stories! That meant so much to me, because she didn't have to do that, she wanted to! I showed the social story to Dominic and sai...

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