An auspicious beginning

What a fabulous time to begin "blogging," as the young people call it. It's 4:17 a.m., I've been up since 2:30, and I'm feeling creative.

Yeah.

It's another one of those "S wakes up after four hours of sleep and I have no idea why" early mornings. Sadly, this is a regular event. I woke suddenly, immediately braced...was that him? Maybe I was dreaming. Another giggle from his room and I can't deny it any more. He jumps up, turns on his TV, then heads for the living room and the couch. I wait in bed, praying (yeah, right!) that he's autism-sleepwalking and will crash on the couch. Those are the lucky times. Waiting...

I doze. Wake up...listen. Waiting...

Thirty minutes pass and I'm starting to get warm and comfortable again. I think he's asleep.

Except he's not. Sudden delighted giggles from the living room wake me up completely, and I throw back the covers, close everyone else's bedroom doors, and trudge down the hall for another early morning session with my sweetly aggravating son.

Let's see...so far he has played with Thomas trains in the dark, and we vainly searched for the 2nd Cur-bel (Clarabel) - at least no tantrum when we didn't find it! Yay. He has watched a snippet from a Thomas video three times...with a deft flick of the wrist he unplugs the TV and VCR when he's done. I know...so dangerous. But the outlet cover I installed foiled him for all of a day. Now, he sits in the recliner behind me watching me type this. It's an hour and a half till I need to get dressed and started for the day. God, I hate this.

I've been reading several blogs lately, and noticed that little "create a blog" link in the upper right corner. I guess I'm just sleep-deprived enough right now to think this is a good idea. :-)

I could use a place to vent and store information...so I guess this is it. I hope someone who's looking for a real, honest, middle-of-the-road look into a family's struggle with autism (and yes, every day IS a struggle) might find something worthwhile here.

Thanks for reading.