"The very things that hold you down are going to lift you up"

I don't know how it happened but my little man turned 5. We had his party a bit early... before the school rush and to enjoy the warm weather. This past summer Quaid watched the movie Dumbo. After seeing it once, he continued to bring me the movie over and over, to request to watch it again and again over the course of several summer weeks. One night I took a break from my routine of loading the dishwasher, as my children watched a show and actually joined....The message from Dumbo, "the very things that hold you down are going to lift you up".....wow...I could have cried... ok I did. It was like Quaid was telling me hey ma, don't worry so much, I got this. Of all the worries with parenthood, perhaps one of the largest when dealing with the challenges of Autism Spectrum Disorder is the "Will he have any friends, will the world love him and enjoy him as much as I do?"As I looked around his birthday party I took a brief moment to soak it in... and I realized I could ditch that fear. This little boy has been blessed with many cousins, his first friends who have loved him, included him and embraced him. Never mind his proud, protective big brother, who is relentless at getting him to try and use his words and his best cuddle buddy. So goodbye fear...while I'm sure you will be replaced in this thing called parenthood, today I celebrate 5 years of loving my Quaid Thomas...my QT...my Quaidy....making his own trail.