Allergies are glamerous

Ah, the glamor of spring ! The beautiful flowering trees, the birds in the air, the yards full of flowers and re-greened lawns, the sounds of lawnmowers filling the air, and the return of the Boyous Snrokesaurus Horribulus - the allergy suffering boy. Characteristics of this species includs sneezing, red eyes, a diminished spirit and a non stop runny nose

Poor kid is affected by nature's bounty once again, but thankfully this year is not as bad as it has been in previous years, and I am very thankful ! Sadly, because he was feeling so miserable and clingy, there was no exercise yesterday for either of us. We shall see what we shall see with the scale. I am not that concerned because to be honest the scale does not seem to be cooperating much with me even when I do a lot of exercising, and whatever cooperation I see dissipates the next week. My son in contrast is constant. He always needs, wants and desires me no matter what the scale says, so I think I opted for the better portion here.

Breakfast was Mom Burritos- egg beaters with red pepper, mushrooms and green onions on La Tortilla high fiber lo carb tortillas with a wedge of Laughing cow lite and baby spinach. Yummy ! On the side was a carton of Yo plus digestive yogurt( I am thinking I should buy stock in these guys), an apple, water and green tea. I remarked to myself at how different we are not than we were 3 years ago. Had I even attempted this kind of breakfast with my son, it would have resulted in a melt down and then an entire morning of rocking and spinning with a mentally dark place for the rest of the morning. Now that we have the texture issues in a controllable range and have made so much headway with him through diet, such a breakfast is possible and have a normal, productive morning afterwords. Sometimes we lose sight of the whole big picture when our minds get wrapped too tightly around weight alone.

Lunch was our version of the lunch able - 2 Wasa high fiber crackers with a slice of provolone and 4 thin slices of turkey breast. Carrots, grape tomatoes, celery and a fourth of a cantaloupe in slices along with homemade lentil soup and Yo Plus. Water to drink. Incidentally, we do not get one use for these disposable water bottles. Each one is rinsed and refilled about 10 times before it is disposed. We arrived at this solution some time back because it works the best for us. In a perfect world we would not use them, but perfection is something we are still working hard to archive.
Dinner was grilled marinated chicken breast( in fresh lemon juice, fresh orange juice, basil, ,oregano and garlic powder) with saute's baby spinach ( yum), rice pasta and a tossed salad. The rice pasta tastes a little "flat", but I imagine this one would absorb whatever flavors it is used with very well. Spinach never tasted better than the way it did being sauteed ! I sprayed the pan with Pam and added a tablespoon of olive oil ( three of us so a teaspoon each), and sprinkled the spinach with garlic powder and just kept flipping till it was wilted. It gave it a very deep, rich sort of taste that we all loved.

Last night I caught a show on Discovery health about a family with six kids, all who have Autisim but each at a different level on the spectrum. I watched it and applauded the way it was covered . It highlighted so many of the challenges that parenting an autistic child inolves , but you kind of forget to include in the "laundry list" of descriptions when you talk to others about your experience. ( I think this is because you get so totally overwhelmed with the day to day reality that it is impossible to remember all). It was rebroadcast later, and I was able to watch it again with my husband. While he is a very good man and good father, he does not spend 24/7 here and a lot of the realities of this miss his viewing and therefor understanding. Many times he mistakes different actions our son does and a kind of disobedience, and I have to remind him that this is not the case. Our son is not capable of that level of thought process...yet. Many of his behaviors are coping devices that he must use in order to live in a world where the volume to everything (to his interpretation) is turned up to an intensely painful level. I was so glad that hubby was able to see this show as well. One rule of life I have learned is that no matter how intelligent, factual, honest and open a man's wife is, if she tells her husband something it gets a kind of pat on the head "oh aren't you cute" kind of attitude and response from her husband. That is till a complete stranger tells him the same information, and then it becomes gospel and he gets converted to action. Sadly as long as a man takes the attitude that it is just a cute weird thing that his wife is saying, so does the rest of the world believe and act accordingly. ( She is just being hysterical/hormonal/in a mood or so forth). The minute the man becomes convinced that it is so, the world suddenly moves in agreement.The world, the extended family, the community and so on. It's a fact of life they never share with you, but it still makes me want to line people up and smack the collective world in frustration !