Exhaustion

More Thoughts During Autism Acceptance Month.

Exhaustion. 

I do not know one single parent of a child with autism or other developmental disability who isn't constantly exhausted - physically, emotionally, mentally. And not even from the usual day to day things of working, cooking, homework. 

You are just flat out exhausted from trying to put out fires on a more than daily basis. 

Exhausted from trying to guess what the next melt-down will be about, and whether or not it will occur someplace good and public. 

Exhausted from researching and educating yourself. 

Exhausted from having everything put on hold during the day so that you can be with your children, only to have to do everything you placed on hold into the late evening. 

Exhausted from fighting to make sure your child is getting the appropriate education and/or is being properly integrated into the general education classroom. 

Exhausted from trying to show your autistic child how to properly interact. 

Exhausted from working a more than full time job and then coming home to potential chaos. 

Exhausted from dealing with the OCD that plagues your child, and often leads to your house becoming trashed on the daily because your kid is searching for the thing that they broke/lost 10 years ago. 

Exhausted from your autistic teenager waking up in the middle of the night needing to have her sheets changed and her walls scrubbed down.

Exhausted from coercing your neurotypical child(ren) to do their chores or homework. 

Exhausted from making sure your neurotypical child(ren) is/are receiving enough attention. 

Exhausted from always being "on." 

These are my exhaustion inducers. Though I would do anything for them, it's a good thing they are cute!

I do try to make sure that I have time for me so that I don't completely lose it on a regular basis (oh, there are days!!). I volunteer to be backstage for the shows Annie's involved with. I make sure I can at least grocery shop on my own (and luckily I enjoy that, otherwise it would not be considered "self-care" to me). I hang out with my friends. I take advantage of respite when I can. And I eat a lot of ice cream :)

Anyway, these are the things that I do for me in order to keep me sane. It doesn't always work. But once I do something for myself, then I realize that I might have a little more patience the next day (though not always 😉). 

I really do urge my friends who are dealing with something similar to make time for themselves. Call a friend who might be going through the same thing (I'm always available to listen!). Go for ice cream or coffee on your own. If respite is available, use it!  You might feel a little guilty, but it's how we have energy to fight the good fight the next day.