Live And Learn Dear Reader Judy writes: “I’ve noticed that lately your essays regarding Alex have reflected a kind of despair. I hope you’re feeling more positive again.” I’d begun to agree with Judy two weeks before her note even arrived. At that time, I noticed that recent Ned essays were about cute stuff, like […]
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Category: Special Needs Fathers
Articles about being a father of a child with special needs
Love The Breaks
“Hate the breaks,” one special-needs mom said to us right after Christmas. I used to, too. Wandering through days with Alex, numbing him with Elmo or running ourselves breathless by manhandling the double stroller (can’t leave Ned home) all over upper Central Park, pausing in the playgrounds if the weather was nice. Wanting to shoot […]
Taking His Medecine
Alex got an ingrown toenail — we don’t have any idea, either — and the doctor prescribed orange liquid antibiotic. It was thick, and Jill said it tasted like a Creamcicle. (Some parents make a practice of tasting everything that goes into their kids’ mouths. I’m afraid I stopped at Pediasure.) Alex got an ingrown […]
Nothing to Write About
The other day Jill and I ran into one of Alex’s therapists from his old school. He asked how Alex was doing, and said that Alex’s old teachers have checked this site but lately hadn’t seen much written about him. “Well,” Jill offered, “there isn’t much to write about.” Thank god. This is approximately the […]
Getting Over It
Alex seemed better over the weekend. Last Wednesday and Thursday the symptoms had been nagging but at least familiar: Ned brings a cold into the house on Tuesday, Alex is lethargic and a little feverish by Wednesday afternoon. Beyond that, Alex can’t tell us how he feels. This is the second such spell for Alex […]
Dinner Hour
Jill gave me a child-rearing book, Blessings of a Skinned Knee, which, among other tips of real sense, advises that dinner hour is sacred. I looked across the living room. Alex munching chicken nuggets by hand and Ned absently spooning in white rice as he watched Toy Story, his spillage mounting like a snow bank […]
Puzzling
Alex has puzzles of a garbage truck, a tow truck, and a dump truck. Each has 49 pieces, each piece a little bigger than a quarter. In the dump truck scene, there’s also a guy laying bricks, a red-headed driver, and, in the background, three birds and a crane. The garbage truck scene includes a […]
Word Count
We’ve been trying to string three or four words together. Not me and Jill, although it’s difficult for us to do that lately, too. I mean Alex. “Pretzul!” “What do we say, Alex?” “Pret-ZUL!” “‘Pretzel please, daddy!” “Pretz’lplezdaddy!” We’ll work on spacing later. I’m just happy, as I unload a handful of Utz salt and […]
The Aggressors
Kids shove kids. Brothers shove brothers. I know this, but … Monday, May 12th, 7:23 a.m.: Suspects’ Father was emptying the dishwasher while suspects watched “Sesame Street” in the living room. Suspects’ Mother had left for work early, otherwise Suspects’ Father would have been in the recliner finishing his coffee and trying to wake up. […]
Table Manners
We’re trying to get Alex to eat only at the table. Not in front of the TV, not beside the TV, not on top of the TV. At the table. At the table where family dinners will be eaten and family holidays held. At the table, Alex. This doesn’t, well, sit okay with him. Our […]