Autism & Queer Eye

It hasn't been the easiest evening.

I missed yoga, burned the dinner and lost my glasses, all because of autism.

Finian is "exploring his emotions" (parenting code for being a massive pain in the arse), and is currently in his Unstable Nuclear Missile phase.  Everything is wrong.  He wants me to fix All The Things NOW.  It's hard to tell if he's singing or crying.  The wrong anything could trigger an explosion that might destabilise the earth's orbit.  

My son's bad mood could actually accelerate global warming.   

I'm not sure I want to become famous for this.

So before I get too comfortable on my cross (the view's great, but the nails kinda hurt), it's worth getting curious about looking at things in a different way.  

Autism sucks, that's a given.  But being martyred to it is optional.  

It's possible I burned the dinner because I'm a mediocre cook with the planning skills of a drunk toddler.  A myopic adult should know better than to take off the glasses they need to find their glasses.  

Missing yoga, though, is definitely on autism.  I couldn't leave my daughter to watch an autistic kid with the emotional stability of uranium.  No amount of downward facing dogs would make that OK.

But, there's always another way of looking at things.

Reframing the picture doesn't mean sticking metaphorical fingers in your ears to deny reality, but sometimes stepping back and being open to a different perspective can put a positive spin on a crappy situation.

So while I freely acknowledge that (this evening, anyway), my son is a Finian-shaped bag of wasps with all the charm of a farty rhinoceros, I'm choosing a different lens to view things through.  

I got to light the fire, change into my pjs extra early, and binge watch Queer Eye, while keeping an ear out for emotional volcanos.  So far, Finian is happily (and loudly) belting out the theme tune to Wonder Pets (in Hungarian), so all remains good.

So I'm shamelessly applying my own Queer Eye (am fairly certain they won't sue me) to view my own world in a healthier way.  

(p.s I love my son and don't really think he's a farty rhinoceros.........)