"I Got this, Dad"

I've been absent, I know. I've missed blogging. It's not that I haven't composed blog post after blog post in my head. There has been plenty to write about over the past few months, and it seems I have good intentions. But life has been busy in our household.

It started back in May when we decided to sell our house. Or should I say, I decided it was time to move. I think it came out of left field for my husband. Sure we had talked about it over the years, but for some reason, it just seemed like the right time.

So my wonderful husband spent countless hours getting our house ready to put on the market. How surprised were we when it sold in two weeks time. We were elated, but then the real pressure was on. We had two weeks to find a suitable house to avoid having to move into some kind of temporary housing. It was crunch time.

With Jacob's Aspergers, there was no way I could do that to him. We had to know where we were going. Change is very hard for him. There was no way I could have him leave the security of the only house he had ever known, and move him into an apartment. He would not understand that.

And so the hunt was on. I figured it would be easy. I'm not that picky when it comes to houses. And our house was so small, the main thing was just finding some room to breath. But it proved more challenging than I had imagined.

I couldn't tell you how many houses got nixed with Jacob in mind.

We would drive up to a house and before even stepping out of the car my husband would announce, "Nope! Jacob wouldn't like the driveway. Next!"

He was right. Steep driveways had to be out. We had already battled the balls rolling down the hill fear. We didn't want to go back to that.

Or we would go from room to room loving everything, until my husband would ask, "But where is Jacob going to play baseball?" knowing all too well that Jacob rarely is found around the house without his nerf bat and ball in hand. We stock up for the winter months as he goes through about six bats a year.

Again next house.

Over and over the theme was, "Could this house work for Jacob?" It seemed like it always came back to that question.

He for sure had opinions. He wanted a big yard for playing baseball, a big bedroom, and no more than two steps up to the house. Really? Where did that come from? He claimed our house had too many steps to get in and it made his legs tired. Great, one more thing to add to the list.

Too small of yards, too busy of streets, too old of neighborhoods, too small of bedrooms. It was supposed to be fun looking for a house. We had thought it would be easy. It was losing it's appeal, this whole moving thing. And I was beginning to think we had made the wrong decision.

Where would my son start school in the fall? How could I do this to him? Start him at one school and then move after a few weeks or months once we knew where we would be living. I was feeling awful and full of regret.

Most people reading that wouldn't understand why it would be a big deal. Move into an apartment for a few months. Who cares? But when your child has a hard time with change, you want nothing more than to make it easier for them, not harder.

And so even though my husband and I were both at our rope's end, tired of looking at houses, we kept pushing forward, knowing that it was what we needed to do for our son. Praying for the right house to turn up.

And sure enough it did.

After a late night at Jacob's baseball game, we were telling some of the other parents about our house hunting. Sure enough on the way home, one of them called saying a house in their neighborhood had just went on the market. We called our realtor and the next morning we were the first to see the house. We loved it!

The rooms were big. It was on a cul-de-sac. The yard was decent size. There was plenty of baseball playing room throughout. There were only two steps to get up to the front door. And best of all, Jacob already knew four kids that would be at his new school.

So that's why I have been absent. Packing, packing, packing. Then unpacking, unpacking, unpacking. And now organizing like crazy!

Yet though it all there has been no major hiccups. Jacob started his new school one day, and the following day we moved into our new house. Talk about major change. But somehow, Jacob handled it all like a trooper. Out of all of us, he has probably handled the new changes the best.

On the second day of school, my husband dropped Jacob off. I was worried as in the past he has had a para meet him outside and walk him in and he would go back to the resource room to read or draw before the bell rang. I knew there would be no para there to greet him as we had barely familiarized the new school about Jacob yet. And knowing how drop offs the last two years had gone at the beginning of the year, I was worried Jacob would have a meltdown not wanting his dad to leave. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that as my husband approached the school curb for drop off, Jacob turned to him and said, "I got this, dad."

Yes, Jacob, you do. You've got this. And your mama couldn't be prouder.