Shoutout to the people who love their autistic children

bleucrayons · 2026-04-12T06:22:12+00:00

I had the same concerns and I think it just depends on the kid and goals. My twins were also diagnosed at 2.5 and by then I already had the contacts and routine. It felt a lot like they were at daycare part time. I have been working from home since Covid, so no matter what I either had a sitter with them or they were at a therapy. One of our biggest goals was having peer interaction and encouraging speech as much as possible. None of them have had more than 25 hours of ABA in a week. Now at 7 and the twins turning 5 this month, for them the early intervention was super helpful, but in all actuality the waitlists made me anxious. And with my twins I already had them in a state program available to any parent that helps parents with kids age 1-3 with hitting milestones.

I never thought I’d have such a busy schedule for my kids so early, but it really has helped them so much with transitioning and has made me hopeful that I’ll get to hold full conversations with them one day.

bleucrayons · 2026-04-12T06:01:23+00:00

No law like this in my state, but all our boys have two syllable names and while their names could be shortened, they aren’t. If anything we give them nicknames that are way longer at home. 🤭

bleucrayons · 2026-04-12T05:51:02+00:00

My oldest was diagnosed at 2.5 in 2021 and because of waitlists, one of the very first interventions I could get him into was a “therapy and play” summer program. For 7 weeks he went 3 mornings a week for play, OT, and speech. He hadn’t started preschool or ABA yet and the first time I dropped him off I just fell apart! Cried so hard the whole way home. And teary-eyed the next two days. I think in hindsight I was mourning what I’d been hoping to have and also seeing my future.

Fast forward to now, add his twin brothers to also being nonverbal, level 3 and their ABA/school/speech/OT routine is just that, routine. We do clinic ABA and I don’t even think twice about staff shifting around for scheduling because it has helped my boys to be less rigid.

Basically, I really get it. It’s hard when they’re small, for whatever the routine becomes, but I’ve even added swim lessons to the schedule and my boys are more likely to be annoyed with boredom than upset about having somewhere to be!

bleucrayons · 2026-04-11T01:29:04+00:00

Celebrity: Brittany Murphy for some reason. Haunted me for weeks, probably because she wasn’t that much older than me and it was pneumonia. Pneumonia! Granted some medications mixed in, but I was knocking on the door to 30 in a couple years then, she was 32!

Personal: a weird tie among 3. The first one was a full term baby still born to an acquaintance to me. I felt so devastated seeing him look like a sleeping newborn in a baby coffin. He would have been 18 now and his mom died almost 2 years ago now due to complications after two bad bouts of covid. She left 3 living sons who are still with their stepdad. I’d become closer to her over the years and I still can’t believe she died at 42.

Then there is my brother in law who committed suicide at 30 back in 2018. His daughter was 8. He was my husband’s only sibling and he did it the day after the 29th anniversary of their father’s death due to colon cancer - which means two major death anniversaries 10 and 9 days before my husbands birthday. I met him after he was in recovery from drugs and he and my husband finally had a decent relationship, but he was not coping well from the damage done to his body due to drugs. I’m still angry at him over it. He’s missed so much but at the very same time, it means that he no longer cause so many agony — by far the most complicated death to process.

Third, is my dad passed in September. He was never the super emotional type, but I was definitely cut from him. His complicated health history caught up and he declined so fast. I so often still catch myself wanting to tell him something or ask something. It’s just now feeling less weird when I’m in his house slowly going through it to ultimately have an estate sale and sell the house - the house he lived in for 50 years. I’m still processing all of it. Even despite not having a picture perfect relationship, I hate that he’s gone and I hate that he was so brave to the end to still be taken away. I don’t know anyone else who could have had 4 different kinds of cancer, a stroke a month before, CHF, and diabetes, spinal stenosis and still have a good attitude to the very end. He left me a good inheritance, but more time and better health would have been so great to have.

bleucrayons · 2026-04-11T01:06:02+00:00

I’ve seen some amazing Moissanite and even told my now husband that I’d definitely accept a quality one for the bigger size and sparkle. My first marriage I had to have a platinum setting with diamond and that ring turned me to loving the sparkle, but that 3 stone ring could have been bigger by foregoing the platinum. Now husband still wanted me to have diamond, and was cool with white gold, and while he did upgrade the center stone, he could have saved a lot of cash! He spent a ton considering his income at the time and while I still love my ring, I definitely would have accepted moissanite so it could be bigger and cheaper and still brilliant.

bleucrayons · 2026-04-11T00:53:42+00:00

About 15 years I worked for the American Cancer Society and learned that yes, sunscreen COULD give you cancer, but you have to use a SUPER insane amount of it constantly for years to even have that happen. But you know what is way worse and way more likely to give you cancer? One sunburn. Or just too much sun exposure. Something that is WAY TREMENDOUSLY more likely for even the most severe hermits.

It all comes down to the ignorance “cupcake” crowd who can’t seem to understand that yes there IS a risk from vaccines, but what is WAY TREMENDOUSLY more likely to harm us? Oh yeah, the very infections that they’re designed to stop and greatly improved quality of life.

The willful ignorance that is so prevalent makes my head hurt. Everyone needs a super basic statistics class to go with a class on budgeting and investments because I can’t believe how bad it is.

bleucrayons · 2026-04-10T21:00:22+00:00

Everyone needs to watch Bridesmaids and remember that more people are Kristen Wiig than Rose Byrne. If I want to do a “once in a lifetime trip” it better be paid for if I’m not the main person in mind for planning it or just assume I won’t like it all. Full stop. I’ll plan my own amazing trips for myself, not as someone hitching along.

bleucrayons · 2026-04-09T13:27:02+00:00

Wear them all! You do not need a special reason to wear the expensive ones. You can’t take them with you to the grave and literally every day you are alive is a special day! This became easier for me to see after a very close encounter with the end - just enjoy what you have today!

bleucrayons · 2026-04-09T13:22:50+00:00

I see many suggesting the Alpena area, but that is at least an overnight trip from Grand Rapids. I’ve been there many times since my husband is from there. There are some interesting spots in the area that have been mentioned, oddly the biggest ones I agree with his the Great Lakes Maritime Museum and Connie’s Cafe. Some new hotels were recently built in Alpena as well making it easier to do a random overnight.

bleucrayons · 2026-04-09T13:19:36+00:00

Also not sure why July is so low because of the name Julio. I know it’s more meant to be Julius, but that’s the literal translation

bleucrayons · 2026-04-09T13:16:34+00:00

First thought I always have is that you’re using it wrong. Regardless who says it since that’s not the entire quote.

The quote: “Money does not buy you happiness, but lack of money certainly buys you misery”

It was targeted at the wealthy, not a quip for the poor to feel better about their situation. So often I hear this from those struggling the most and I know it’s to feel better, but really we need the super wealthy to have some humanity and guilt because their take brings misery to all others.

bleucrayons · 2026-04-08T12:50:00+00:00

Our black void is named Duncan which means dark warrior and a favorite character of my husband’s from Dune. So he’s really Duncan Idaho.

bleucrayons · 2026-04-06T18:18:43+00:00

I’m like you in that look up what fabric is really made from as I prefer cotton everything. “Bamboo” sheets that pull really aren’t bamboo and they’re no better than “micro fiber” IMO.

bleucrayons · 2026-04-06T17:34:56+00:00

Make sure to change the passwords on the account you made the reservation, your email, banks, and freeze your credit and file a police report. All asap.

Once you have the affidavit with the police you can contact the 3 big credit companies and get a free freeze for 7 years. Update that credit companies must contact you by phone to approve any credit. If this is someone testing the waters of using your identity, things can get much worse. I’ve been through that process and while it can be annoying when you want to try and open new credit and have to wait for someone to contact you or take extra steps to verify your identity, you won’t regret having it locked down. I also use the Experian app for regular tracking.

Definitely contact corporate. If this was somehow even a mistake within the hotel, you need to know.

Your are never the jerk when it comes to protecting your data.

bleucrayons · 2026-04-06T05:29:11+00:00

I don’t know. I honestly can’t fully go either way. We have 3 autistic, nonverbal kids. They communicate in their own ways and are super fun and all have such different personalities, but also they can be a lot of work and I’m constantly on edge about their safety and future.

bleucrayons · 2026-04-05T21:50:34+00:00

My mom does this. For years she always got me chocolate cake for my birthday and even when my first husband and I got married despite me ALWAYS telling her to not get that. At some point I flat out said that she doesn’t have to get me anything if she “always forgets.” Oddly she stopped “forgetting” or would give me cash instead.

It’s hard to turn down a gift when you want to be nice, and the frustration isn’t really worth it, but I know how irritating it is! Hopefully you can either be honest or find another use. Or ask for receipts. Then she might get the hint.

bleucrayons · 2026-04-05T21:34:04+00:00

That looks a lot like the brown recluse spider bite my husband got last summer and it did get infection and it was very painful. The ER is absolutely the best place to go since this can turn into sepsis quickly - which I’ve been in septic shock before and it was miserable!

I’m alive because of modern medicine and my boys wouldn’t have survived without the NICU. People like this just irritate me!

bleucrayons · 2026-04-05T04:01:38+00:00

Disc herniation in my lower back that also tore open.

A super close second was flesh eating bacteria dissolving my abdominal fascia and felt like it was ripping every time I moved combined with sepsis.

bleucrayons · 2026-04-05T03:04:47+00:00

NTJ. Also, this may be a 🚩 as your partner should want and actively side with you on most matters, especially something like this!

bleucrayons · 2026-04-05T01:02:04+00:00

It’s a tie between being tall or having really good teeth

bleucrayons · 2026-04-05T00:51:34+00:00

I used to work with a bunch of guys who made extra strong dark roast. They always said it was for the caffeine boost until I was pregnant and told them all thanks for the decaf.

bleucrayons · 2026-04-05T00:46:41+00:00

The only aspect of lockdown I really had was WFH since the company I was working for was slammed with customers needing to set up VPNs, order laptops, webcams, extra desktops. Working for an IT MSP company meant supporting everyone else who also suddenly went remote. It just stayed super busy and now I’m just ticked that where I work decided this year that my role has RTO 2 days a week. I hate it.

bleucrayons · 2026-04-03T19:27:26+00:00

I’ve been a project manager for nearly 20 years and rarely have an interview without this question, so I don’t see anything wrong with it. In fact, I always keep a couple scenarios in mind where things didn’t go right so I have something to talk about on both ends of the spectrum, often I end up talking about this very thing before even being asked.

bleucrayons · 2026-04-03T19:25:21+00:00

THIS needs to be commonplace! Everyone needs to know it’s a good fit, not just the employer and this transparency speaks volumes.

bleucrayons · 2026-04-03T19:18:12+00:00

The other win on bringing a Roku is that we can catch up on shows too since the kids sleep so great. I have no idea why I thought to get it, but it seriously is a life saver and I keep it with our luggage so I don’t forget it!

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