bountifulplate

Before I had Dominic, I had absolutely NO CLUE what Autism was. As I have mentioned before, my only frame of reference was the movie, Rain Man .  I thought all children and adults with Autism lived in institutions and were non-verbal (and, if they did talk, it was to themselves). I also thought they were unable to show emotions. Wow, what a different "view" I have now. I think if I could put the past eight years since Dominic's diagnosis into two words, it would be, "eye-opening." I have learned that not all children and adults live in institutions. Some do, but a lot don't. Yes, there are children and adults that are non-verbal, but that doesn't mean they can't hear. Lauren told me once her thoughts on Autism. She said, "mom, every child is "in there," you just have to find a way to reach them." What a profound statement, wouldn't you say? I have had people ask me whether the "window has closed" for Dominic. The ...

A few weeks ago, the hubby, Dominic and I went bowling. We played two games. Dominic won the first game and the hubby won the second game. We didn't "let" Dominic win the first game, he beat us, "fair and square." When you play a board game with your child, do you "bend" the rules to make it easier for them to beat you? This past weekend, Lauren was home visiting from college. I asked her if she wanted to play a game. I wanted to play Yatzhee or Trouble , but she said she wanted to play a game that was based on skill, not luck. I guess I'm the reverse. We ended up playing Scrabble.  That game is a little bit of luck and a little bit of skill, so it was a good compromise. I like the old adage, "it's not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game."  I think sometimes as parents, it's easy to get so caught up in winning, that we don't teach our kids how to lose. I will never, ever forget a soccer game where I was th...

When I first got the diagnosis of Dominic having Autism back in 2007, I spent two weeks feeling sorry for myself. I think it's extremely important to go through that process, so you can move forward. During that two week time frame, one thing I really wish I could have read was an article or blog posts about having a child with special needs, what it was really like and how it affects the entire family. I felt so alone during those two weeks, like I was the only one out there with a child with Autism. I didn't want to read a blog that was negative, but rather one that was inspirational and positive. Before I started writing my blog in July of 2011, I had many doubts. Would anybody read it? Would I get a bunch of negative comments saying things like, "are you some kind of expert?" or "who do you think you are writing a blog!?!" Since I have a business degree and not a journalism degree, I wondered if I would have enough "material" to make a blog int...

When I heard Dominic running down the stairs and into the family room at 6:30 a.m. this morning, my first thought was, what in the world is he going to do with the two hours before his bus arrives? Would he play with his toys? the i-Pad? rest on the couch? When I asked Dominic what today was, he told me, "riding a bus to get to Kinawa (his middle school), pizza!" Yep, every Thursday I let him get hot lunch, which always includes pizza.  If Dominic had his way, EVERY day would be pizza day :) LOL. Next up for him was breakfast. I told him I would be making homemade waffles and would let him know when they were ready. When his "order" was up, he came dancing into the kitchen to get them. He then remarked, "Grandma lives in heaven." Well, yesterday was the four year anniversary of when my mother-in-law passed away.  It was tough not to grab a tissue and dab my eyes. Next, Dominic said, "Lauren?" I told him that she wasn't here. He then said, ...

In the Fall of 2014, I started co-teaching a religious education class. During one of the classes recently, as I was reading a portion of the lesson, I heard one of the little boys in the class say, "my finger is bleeding!" About half the class went over to "investigate," and everything came to a grinding halt. His finger definitely needed a Band-Aid , so I told him. "hold on, let me check my purse!" He was like, "purse?" Sure enough, within seconds, I had located one and quickly put it on his finger. I think he was glad I was prepared! Since it took us until Dominic was over eight years old to get him potty trained, I always had a diaper or a Pull-Up on me at all times. Even though Lauren is now an adult, she has been known on more than one occasion to say, "mom, do you have anything to eat in your purse?" I don't cart around a three course meal in there, but I do make sure I have at least one granola bar! Sometimes I still wish I...

Saturday morning, the kids and I ran into the local  Target to get a few last minute items for Christmas. The store wasn't too crowded and the lines weren't long. When I got to the register, I started putting my items onto the conveyor belt. I heard one of the clerks at one of the other registers say, "this lane is now open." I saw a gal out of the corner of my eye coming with her cart behind me. I said to her, "do you have enough room to squeeze by me?" She didn't respond, but instead shoved her cart through, hitting me along the way. I looked at the clerk waiting on me and said, "that lady just hit me!" He said something like, "it's that time of year." I'm sorry, but it's never okay to ram a cart into someone. I looked right at him and said, "after you finish ringing me up, I think I'm going to go over and talk to her, don't you think I should?" The clerk said, "you probably shouldn't, how abo...

When Lauren left for college in August, it was hard on all of us, but I think it was the hardest for Dominic. Ever since he was born, she has been there for him. The separation for the two of them has been difficult at times, but I have raised both of the "kids" to be strong people and they are coping as best as they can.  Lauren took a Freshman Writing class this past semester and her grade was based on her writing "portfolio," which included three writing assignments. A few months ago, she asked me if it was okay if she wrote about Dominic for one of the three assignments. I was curious what she would write and I saw a rough draft recently, but hadn't seen the finished "product." Yesterday, I read it. Anybody got a case of tissues? Wow, my sweet daughter blew me away. These particular sentences were so heartwarming to hear as a mom: "the  lessons of patience and understanding that I have learned from Dominic are invaluable, and he  truly ...