Category: Parenting

“How did you know your child has autism?” is the number one question asked of me since sharing Big A’s autism diagnosis. In person, but especially in messages, from acquaintances and strangers alike. Hey, I get it. It’s not a question I wanted to ask aloud either. But paying attention

How the hell is it the middle of December?!?! The holidays snuck up on me. We have most of our shopping done (something I’ve never said before) but I’ve barely crafted and baked. These homemade dough ornaments count as both. This is a great Christmas craft: easy, economical, not too

This post contains affiliate links which means that if you click on them and make a purchase, I may earn a bit of adult beverage money at no cost to you, which is a great way to support me and the site. Thank you so much!!! Little A hit nine

I have a confession: I side-eye the parents yelling at their kids in Wal-Mart. You know the ones. The real screamers. I’ve always advocated and strived for non-engagement with my kids’ (we both know I mean Big A) negative behavior. With concentrated effort, I usually succeed. Until earlier this week when

I am a woefully bad at art. I’ve never been good at painting or drawing. I can’t even use scissors well (I blame being left-handed). I love doing Dollar Tree crafts, but that’s just hot gluing cheap pieces of plastic to other cheap pieces of plastic. As I scroll Pinterest,

Last Wednesday we had our toddler tested for autism. At barely two years old, he received a definitively diagnosed with autism. It is like everything has changed, yet nothing has changed. Our day-to-day is no different. There are triumphs: Big A said “choo-choo” and signed “train” Sunday. There’s still a

Big A gets a lot of attention here at Ish Mom. As Dr. Phil says, he’s the “squeaky wheel.” I love my youngest the same as my first-born, but I’m not nearly as worried about him. Little A is a happy baby. He is quick to smile and eager to

I’ve taken Big A to toddler storytime at our local library since he was four months old, patting myself on the back all the while. Now my hands are too full of a kicking, screeching, nonverbal toddler for self-congratulation. As my oldest grows so do his meltdowns. Storytime was fun

We threw Big A a Little Blue Truck second birthday party using free Little Blue Truck decorations we printed out. He’s obsessed with vehicles of all kinds and the books are a big hit in our house. The birthday boy had the best time. He was excited to see his

It is small consolation knowing that Big A, my two-year-old autistic toddler, is as frustrated by his lack of speech as we are, especially because he communicates this by screeching, kicking, and throwing whatever’s closest (or his little self upon the floor). Big A doesn’t ask for a drink, he