Relaxation: Your How-To Guide

Nowadays it seems people don't know how to simply relax. We're always on the go. Yes, there are even some in our extended family who, if the truth were only known, are a bit more "on the go" than may be healthy.

So as a community service project, Cullen and I offer you the following illustrations of relaxation.

First, the "classic" pose:

And then there's the more contemporary "techno-snuggle" which can be with either mom...

Or, with slight adjustment, with Dad:

Please, try these at home.

"Welcome to Holland"

This was recently posted to one of my autism support group discussion lists. It is a great analogy.

By Emily Perl Kingsley, 1987. All rights reserved.

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss. But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Cullen - New Pictures and Impersonations

February was a good month for Cullen, and March 2010 is looking like it's going to be a good one too. Sorry pictures have been so long in coming...

The pictures above are Cullen doing his "Armbrecht impersonation." He tries to look like his mommy's side of the family... He's getting pretty good at it, but don't you agree he still looks an awful lot like daddy?

This one you gotta see--Cullen putting together his "Cullen doll." They made this at preschool, and he really, really enjoys dressing up himself.

Here's Cullen amidst his flashcards, caught on camera... now we know just who has been taking his socks off when we're not looking!

And, as you can see, early in the morning Cullen likes to get up and catch up on his reading... this is probably when he looks the most like daddy!

Hey, thanks to all who are praying for Cullen. We are very thankful for how he's growing and developing his skills. We'll try to post more pictures soon!