Treading Water

As we enter summer "vacation", my main focus has been on finding places for the boys to be while I work, making sure they're taken care of, and trying to afford it all.  I am revisiting some old supplements that I don't feel like I tried for long enough and reading about some new ones.  My autism book stack is getting higher by the day. 

I read and read and pray that one day I am going to find that magical solution for Nate.  That some day he is just going to open up his mouth and start talking.  That the stimming will calm and I'll be able to talk to him like any other kid.  There is so much going on in there, it just feels like everything he wants to say is trapped.  I don't know what more I can do for him right now.  So I guess I am feeling trapped too.  And inadequate as usual.  I am watching babies born almost two years after him pass him by verbally.  And while it hurts, I marvel at their development.  I know their parents are thankful for it, but do they get just how much of a miracle it is?  It's something I appreciate seeing more than I can express.

I am trying to rally myself for another round of searching.  And implementing.  Sometimes I am just so damned tired with just what we are already doing.  And yet I feel that same sense of panic creeping in that I am not "figuring this out."  I mean, what if there is nothing to figure out?  What if this is just the way it's going to be?  That thought terrifies me.  And it's one that I am trying to reconcile myself to, just in case. 

In the meantime, I guess we really are just treading water.  Surviving, doing a lot of running around, going to appointments, smiling and saying the kids are doing well, and coming home at the end of the day, collapsing, and feeling discouraged.  It's a dance we have honed over time, we are getting pretty good at it.