Its not all Doom and Gloom......

Its not all doom and gloom when you have a complex needs kiddo.

Today was sponsored by Mexican food and bowling! A family day out to ease tensions and cabin fever was just what we all needed - was there shouting? Yup definitely. Was there kids fighting? Oh heck was there.

Saying all of that though isn't the whole truth, there was a lot of laughter and high fives. For H this was his first foray into bowling and he loved it! He even had a happy dance when his ball hit a pin :-)
For R this was only the third time he's been bowling, and for someone who hates loud noises and vast crowds; he did fantastically! He even won the little tinker!

Doing something like this as a family is an ideal time to realise the good bits and the bits where you have all grown. For us it was the fact R was able to take turns, congratulate each of us on our scores and even admit (without a meltdown or tears) that he needed the barriers and slope thing to help him.

For us, as parents, it was sitting back and letting the boys do stuff for themselves. Things like R not needing us to hold the ball, shift the slope or take him to the toilet. Things like H telling us he needed the loo without wetting himself in the process. For them both to willingly try a new place and foods to eat, and behave whilst doing it all!

Was today hard? Or even easy? No way! it took planning and bribery to even leave the house! Was it worth it? Even with all the stress around crowds and H running off onto the lane? Oh hell yes it was!

Its not often we, or those who have complex needs kiddos, can get out to places like bowling, the cinema or a restaurant; when we do, we take full advantage of it and enjoy every little high and disregard the lows of that day. What there were lows? I can hear people ask!

Yes, every day has lows; some days more than others, but where there are lows there are highs. Todays were that H had his naughty pants on and felt the need to test every single boundary known to children! For once R felt the need to behave as expected when in public, remembering manners and doing as we asked when we asked it.

So, todays little tidbit - Always remember the high points to each day, no matter how small they are; and tell the world about them because who else will?