Against All Odds

Just about everything in my family's world seems "against all odds".

Three out of four children in the autistic spectrum...who would have taken those odds?

And running a home with four children, two dogs, a bearded dragon and a fish...should prove to be a choice that goes against the odds of my maintaining my own sanity. Factor into that, the 6 carpools to three schools and the children's attending therapies, karate, girl scouts, choir, photography, and cooking classes to create odds for survival that numb the mind!

Inside our home, the noise and energy abounds with lessons in bass guitar and electric guitar and of course drums(thanks to a well meaning grandmother). What could be the odds that we would survive the din in a world defined by sensory integration disorder. (Noise cancellation headsets are a godsend here!)

The odds that all this will be successfully navigated and homework accomplished....a million to one!

Yet somehow, it happens everyday and against all odds... it falls into place much like instuments' notes in an orchestra. Each facet of our day, adding another note and richness that forms a beautiful song or a cacophonous clatter! We cherish our daily down time to just breathe!

We allow each family member the space and dignity to react and move forward. Minute by minute we renegotiate life and navigate the next moment. Lacking so many social skills, the children ride along life on a path that is well known and predictable even in it's frightening moments of unpredictability. They trust the familiar rhythm that carries us and they gage their ultimate safety by my behavior. Naively assuming, if mom is calm...what are the odds every moment isn't predictable to her? Truth be told, the odds are, we'll figure it out...because we have to.

Against every odd, we move from awakening to bedtime with love, joy, exhaustion, determination, frustration and contentment. So often, people ask the question,"How do you do it?" The answer just might be, "against all odds".

I am so grateful for the strength I gather when I watch the heroes, that are my children.