SELF CARE FOR PARENTS of Teen or Adult with Autism or Mental Illness

Seeking out Comedy and Humor in my life is Excellent Self Care!   Here is a story that I find funny:   I needed something that would take my mind off of parenting 3 children with Autism.  I needed some "me" time or a hobby that I could enjoy and use to relax.  So, the answer I thought was a cute little puppy.  I searched long and hard for "the perfect dog".  Finally after searching a number of possibilities, I decided on a breed I thought would be perfect!  I was thrilled.  We got our dog.  It was the cutest thing I had ever laid eyes on (besides my children of course).  The little puppy grew into a big fluffy bundle of joy!  A wild big bundle of joy.  So, I enrolled him in "Doggie Obedience School".  It wasn't long before the Lead Doggie Trainer approached me and asked to speak with me after class one day.  After all the other Owners and their dogs walked to their vehicles, I was curious to find ou...

I am a mom of 4 children.  Three of them have Autism.  Most people gasp, after that statement.  I know what that is like.  When I only had one child with Autism, I remember calling a mom that I had heard had three children on the autistic spectrum .  I just had to call her, just to hear her voice.  I thought my situation was overwhelming with just ONE (so I thought at the time) child with Autism.  I could not imagine having more than one. It was kind of a morbid curiosity that I had... to find out what a person would "sound like", that was parenting three children with autism.  Forgetting all appropriate phone protocol, I blurted, "I don't think that I would still be alive, if I had THREE with Autism!  I think I would have lost it, and that I would be in the fetal position in my closet."  I was embarrassed that I could not come up with something....anything else to say to this poor woman! "Ah....If you don't mind my asking...How...