Change is a beauty

The weekend for me is a time to reflect on the previous week, as well as the one coming my way. To be honest, I’m exhausted by the weekend so I’m not entirely sure the thoughts I have are always productive or useful. But hey ho, you kind of need to just get through them sometimes.

It’s been a weird few months chez moi. So much has happened, so many emotions and challenges. I should really be used to the challenges by now; pretty sure I’ve already had more than my fair share of a lifetime. But it is what it is, and thankfully I’ve developed a coping mechanism that seeks out the good in even the crappest of situations.

Is that a good thing? I’m not sure but it works at least long enough to get me through whatever’s happened.

Moving forward

Jude has changed so much these last few months. He’s a big, teenagery young man who sometimes finds adolescence hard to understand. I don’t blame him. It’s a confusing time for everyone but particularly for someone like Jude who thrives under consistency – both physical consistency in terms of who’s around him as well as emotional consistency in how he feels.

As ever, his school has been a pillar of strength and support. He regularly tells me what zone he’s in (zone of regulation) and they’ve taught him skills to support his own train of thought. They are angels. All of them.

Now Jude is so grown up, I feel like it’s time to take a slightly different path with Living with a Jude. The focus will remain on life with my wee man but in a more general sense. Less of his personal life and more of the structures, experiences and ideas around ensuring someone like Jude has the best life possible.

Being the parent of a child with additional needs (I say child because he’ll always be my baby) is a lifetime of emotional extremes. Without being a total downer :/ I have recently been planning for situations when I’m no longer here to defend him, speak up for him or argue his corner. It’s not nice to think about but I can’t imagine anything worse than him not being supported throughout his entire life.

But even while I am still around, there is always something to do – for example, it’s nearly our turn to transition into adult-supported services. Not a door I’ve ever looked forward to opening but one I believe will at least be slightly less stressful than it was getting Jude into his current school. I hope. Is it?! Ha! Have I jinxed it now?!