The Year in Review

I know, it’s the middle of January and I’m just now doing my 2015 year-in-review post. Given that I was just a wee-bit-busy during Christmas break and last week was spent digging out from eleven consecutive days of kids (OMG the ERRANDS!) I’m just now getting the chance to reflect on the past year, its challenges, its accomplishments, its theme.

Yes, Jeff and I usually give each passing year a theme. Many of them have not been printable. Fortunately, 2015’s is- “suck it up and move on.”

This past year I watched my severely autistic eldest son shed seventeen pounds by removing most carbs and teaching him to like salad (!). I also witnessed his OCD ramp up to new heights which often make both he and us miserable, as his father and I desperately search for items he’s hidden around the house (the worst part is with my failing memory I don’t even know things are missing.)

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You win some, you lose some.

2015 also brought us the joy of watching my youngest, who is mildly autistic, learn to navigate the world of a two-wheeler with confidence and pride. His comment “this is the best day of my life” made his Pop-Pop, who generously paid for the camp, tear up. Trust me, there weren’t a lot of dry eyes at camp that day.

More ups than downs for kid #2.

And it brought changes for me as well, less tangible but no less important. This past year I practiced letting go, and I have to tell you all it (mostly) worked. I let go of conflict with people I don’t give a damn about. I let go of worrying about Justin’s future after school ends because we’re not quite in the planning stages yet, and I need to be more in the present. I let go of a lot of my “autism-induced anxiety,” learning to take a deep breath and channel some of the way I feel when I do yoga (and trust me, being the least flexible person in the world if I can do it, you can too.)

I basically “frozened” 2015.

The year culminated with eleven consecutive days of vacation with the kids, (yes, I counted) and I have to share with all of you that although Jeff and I did the “happy dance’ on the 4th (yes, it’s adorable, no it’s not on YouTube) for the first time even I was kind of sad to see those yellow buses roll on up to the curb (not devastated people, just slightly sad.) It was a wonderful feeling to not be at the end of my rope, to have had two mostly happy kids home for a week-and-a-half.

Not that I’m looking to do it again any time soon. Martyr I’m not.

It was, overall, a good year, and I’d be fine for a repeat in 2016. I’d like to throw in a childless vacation for me and Jeff (woohoo, bring it grandma) and more time in DC with my girls, but other than that I’m good for a do-over.

And trust me, in this house, that’s a first.

Here’s wishing you and yours a belated welcome to 2016. May it bring you peace, love, happiness, and of course, lots of love and chocolate.

Happy New Year!

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