My name is Carrie. I am married to a man named Joe, and we have five kids. They go like this: Joey (age 14), Jack (age 13), Charlie (age 11), Rose (age 10), and Henry (8). Sometimes I wonder if other people have a zillion thoughts that float in and out of their brains all […]
The restaurant wasn’t very busy when we walked in, and right away my kids ran over to look at the tank full of lobsters. We asked if you had a table available. You smiled and nodded, and gathered up a bunch of menus. Then you noticed my son Jack. He was standing a little away […]
Last Wednesday, Joe and I took the kids to this pool club in our town. It’s a casual place with a playground and gas grills and tennis and volleyball. All day long kids run in packs which dissolve and regroup as families come and go. They beg to try each other’s snacks and toss baseballs […]
Dear Jack, We have exactly eight days left to sixth grade, including today. We are in the home stretch, the final mile, the last bite of the big enchilada. I have to tell you, this year felt long and short all at the same time. Long, because you feel apart midway through. You fell apart […]
A lot of times people ask me if my 10-year old son Jack’s autism is high or low functioning. And I almost always answer the same way. “Um, I’m not sure.” I mean, for the most part, he is high functioning. He talks and carries on conversations and is in a regular classroom and eats […]
Dear Christopher, I’m not sure if you remember me, but we were in the same class in third grade. I was tall for my age, and I had long, blonde hair that I usually wore in messy braids. You had very dark hair and brown eyes. You were a little chubby, and I remember you […]
“Rose!” five-year Henry shouted, dropping his blue backpack on the floor. “Let’s go upstairs! I be Mistah Munsey and you be Mrs. McCarthy.” The two of them linked arms and made their way to the playroom, singing some song about a flag at the top of their lungs.They sounded like two drunken sailors just home from […]
The other day I came across a picture of 13-month old Joey taking his first steps. I was sitting in a big leather chair nursing four-week old Jack, when Joey put down the block he’d been holding, stood up, and walked. Huh, I thought, watching—amazed—as my first-born toddled between the coffee table and the chair. […]
I’ve never written a follow-up post before. I’ve kind of stayed away from them, to be honest. I mean, everyone knows sequels are never as good as the originals. Unless, of course, you are talking about the Rocky movies, in which case it is indisputable that Rocky II is the best movie ever made. “Yo […]
Lately I’ve been really curious about what autism means to my 10-year old son, Jack. I mean, I know he knows he has it. And we know he hates it. But what does it mean to him, exactly? So, I conducted some high-level research. It went something like this: “Jack, what does autism mean to […]