[Autism] A Week in the Life + an Erin Condren Giveaway!

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

This is a post in a series of posts that I'm doing during the month of April, Autism Awareness Month, to help people understand our situation. I feel like I don't talk about autism much on the blog in general and it's not because I'm hiding it or anything, I'm very open about it and don't mind talking about it, but in general, I don't let it define our family, Mason, or how we run our day to day. Sure we might have more "stuff" going on than most, but I don't let that define us. During the month of April, I wanted to bring more attention to it than I normally do. You can find more information about our story here.

I know what you're thinking. Holy cow, day in the life posts are already SO long, I definitely don't want to read a whole week in the life post. But hear me out. I wanted to share a week in the life post so you could see what a week in the life is like to me. I work, Mason has appointments, and we do our daily life routine. I don't want to get into too much detail in terms of minute by minute play by plays, but I wanted to give you a general idea of what a week looks like for us. (I didn't really include anything about Seth on the weekdays since his schedule pretty much just consists of working 7am-5pm. He does have every other Friday off though and this week happened to be his day off. Other details on Seth are added in as applicable.) Also, I highlighted Mason's stuff in blue in case you only want to see what his week is like.

And in case you only care about the giveaway... scroll down to the bottom for how to enter!

Keep in mind, my week looks MUCH different than every other family with a child with autism. I've actually teamed up with my friend, Amy, whose son, Kase, also has autism. They live in a different state than I do, there are three kids in their family, and Amy is a work from home mom. Their situation is completely different than mine. Pop on over and see what a week in the life is like for them.

Sunday, April 2
(Autism Awareness Day)
7:30am: wake up, have breakfast, Seth and I watch the news/Mason watches the iPad, play, get ready for the day
10:45am: Target run and get lunch
12:30pm: Seth takes Mason to get a haircut, I run next door to Michael's to get some Easter stuff and to Trader Joe's for some flowers
1:30pm: back home, meal plan, and head to the grocery store
3:00pm: back home again, see there's an open house in the area on the floor plan of the townhouses we like, head over to see it, back home to watch Sing
4:30pm: head to Nanny's house for family dinner night
8:00pm: back home, watch a little tv, put Mason to bed




Monday, April 3
5:30am: wake up, take a shower, get dressed and ready for the day, read some blogs (I'm early for once and have time!)
6:45am: Mason wakes up on his own (this rarely happens!), get him milk and a waffle, watch iPad for a little bit before getting ready and leaving
7:45am: leave the house, head to the post office, drop Mason off at school, pay tuition and for his OT starting Tuesday, head to work
8:15am-5:15pm: Mason is at preschool
8:30am-11:30am: Mason gets ABA at school
8:40am-3:00pm: I'm at work
3:00pm: leave work, stop by the bank for work, head home
3:30pm: arrive home, take some pictures of my Hello Fresh box that arrived, have plans to be productive, get distracted, start to clean out my closet, organize stuff, check my email, read some blogs
5:00pm: Seth is off work and goes to pick up Mason
5:45pm: Seth and Mason get home, Seth starts to prepare dinner, I give Mason a bath, we eat dinner
6:50pm: I convince Seth that he has enough time to run to Yogurtland before the Angels game starts (he probably doesn't, but he goes anyway)
7:05pm: Angels game (baseball opening day!), playing for a bit until Mason goes to bed
8:15pm: Mason goes to bed, Seth and I watch the Angels game and hang out until we fall asleep on the couch (#honesty)






Tuesday, April 4
5:30am: wake up, take a shower, get dressed and ready for the day
7:00am: wake Mason up, get him breakfast and ready for the day
7:40am: leave the house to get to speech class
8am-9am: Mason is at speech, I decide to run to Costco gas instead of my normal Starbucks trip
9am: pick Mason up, drop him off at school, head to work
9:15am-3:15pm: Mason is at preschool
9:30am-3:00pm: I'm at work
1:30pm-2:30pm: Mason's first day of OT (occupational therapy)
3:00pm: head to the bank for work, pick Mason up, head home to gather our stuff for his ABA session at the clinic
4:30pm-6:30pm: Mason at ABA therapy
6:30pm: pick Mason up, Seth had started chicken in the crock pot for tacos (he's at softball tonight), but I decide I'd prefer Chick-fil-a (I'll use the chicken for lunches this week instead... is what I told myself), come home, eat dinner, skip bath time, watch some tv to wind down
8:15pm: I put Mason to bed. A little later than normal, but I was trying to cook something for lunch tomorrow and it took a little longer in the oven. Brush Mason's teeth, get oils in his diffuser, and lay down with him so he'll fall asleep. I have plans to just lay there for a few minutes, but he's all wound up for some reason, so it takes longer than I expect and I... fall asleep.
1:30am: wake up and head into my bed to sleep for the rest of the night


Wednesday, April 5
5:30am: wake up, take a shower, get dressed and ready for the day
7:00am: wake Mason up, get him breakfast and get him ready for the day, pack my lunch
7:45am: leave the house and head to the post office
8:00am: post office, drop Mason off at school, head to work
8:15am-5:15pm: Mason at preschool
8:30am-2:45pm: I'm at work
9:00am-11:30am: Mason gets ABA at school
2:45pm: leave work, head to the bank, get back to the car and about to leave to get Mason when I get a text from Seth saying that our ABA therapist cancelled session for today. I ask him if he can pick Mason up after work, he says yes, and I come home to get stuff done. (Normally I would go pick Mason up around 3:15pm-ish and bring him home and he'd have a home ABA session from 4:30pm-6:30pm.)
3:10pm: laundry, blogging, cleaning, organizing
5:00pm: Seth leaves work, picks up Mason, and heads home
5:55pm: they get home and Seth starts dinner, I give Mason a bath, and we play until dinner is ready
6:40pm: dinner and playing until bed time
8:00pm: Mason goes to bed



Thursday, April 6
5:30am: wake up, take a shower, get dressed and ready for the day
7:00am: wake Mason up, get him breakfast and ready for the day
7:40am: leave the house to get to speech class
8am-9am: Mason is at speech, I stop by the post office to mail stuff for work and head to Starbucks
9am: pick Mason up, drop him off at school, head to work
9:15am-5:15pm: Mason is at preschool
9:30am-3:30pm: I'm at work, we go out to lunch for my boss's birthday
3:30pm: head to the bank for work and then come home
5:00pm: Seth leaves work, picks up Mason, and heads home
5:55pm: they get home and Seth starts dinner, I give Mason a bath, and we play until dinner is ready
6:40pm: dinner and playing until bed time
8:00pm: Mason goes to bed




Friday, April 7
5:30am: wake up, take a shower, get dressed and ready for the day
7:15am: blood test (follow up to check Vitamin D levels from my last routine blood test that showed they were low), stop by the post office, pick up Mason to take him to school, Starbucks drive thru since I didn't have enough time to make coffee this morning
8:15am-3:30pm: Mason at preschool
8:30am-4:15pm: I'm at work. I text Seth to see if he can pick Mason up for me. Since it's his day off, normally I would since I'm closer, but I'm running late and want to make sure he can get to the glasses store for an adjustment today.
3:30pm: Seth gets Mason, they stop by the glasses shop for an adjustment, and stop by the grocery store to get stuff for dinner on the way home
4:15pm: I leave work, stop by the bank for work, stop by the post office for work
4:45pm: I get home
5:15pm: Seth and Mason get home, Seth starts dinner
6pm-8pm: dinner and playing until Mason goes to bed




Saturday, April 8
5:45am: Mason wakes up and comes into our room. Why does this kid wake up so early on weekends but sleeps in on weekdays?? Seth convinces him to lay down and we all sleep for a bit more.
6:30am: Seth and Mason get up
7:30am: I get up (hooray for Saturday!)
7:30am-8:45am: We eat breakfast, watch the news/iPad, get ready for the day, and Seth leaves to take Mason to ABA therapy
9am-2pm: Mason is at ABA therapy at the clinic
9am-11:45am: Seth pick's up our Easter candy from his sister's house, stops by Starbucks, and then we go to Old Navy, See's Candy, the bank, and Costco together.
11:45am: Seth leaves to go to a beer festival with our friend Vickie.
11:45am: I take out the trash, clean up a bit, eat lunch, and start working on this post
1:45pm: leave to go pick Mason up from ABA
2:00pm: get Mason and head to Target
3:00pm: we arrive home from Target and I ask Mason if he wants to go to the library. He's been begging to go and keeps saying that Pete (the Cat) is there and he wants to see him. We go to our local library and find out that it's closed, whomp whomp. We head to another library before coming home for a bit and then going out to pick up our take out Lazy Dog Cafe.
5:30pm: we head out to pick up our to go food, eat dinner, take a bath, and play until bed time
8:00pm: Mason goes to bed
9:00pm: Seth gets home
Sometime later... we go to bed.




And there you have it! I left out exact details of the week because really each hour by hour details are not important. What I wanted to try to portray was all the appointments and therapies that we take Mason to and how our week revolves around them. Since I work full time, I'm sure my week looks a lot different than most parents (or moms) with kids with autism since most of them (I've found) are stay at home moms. Seth and I try to arrange our schedules to be able to pick Mason up and take him to ABA and various other doctor appointments. Thankfully my job is super flexible and allows me to take Mason to almost all appointments. They let me come in late on Tuesdays and Thursdays to take Mason to speech and I plan other appointments around my busy time so I can take him to those as well.

I don't know what life will look like next year once Mason is in kindergarten (maybe I'll have to do another one of these), but it would be interesting to compare!

***

(this was at the beginning of the week -- it is A LOT more filled in now! custom planner stickers from plan in color)

And now for what you all are waiting for I'm sure... the giveaway! Amy and I have teamed up and are giving one lucky person a $50 gift card to Erin Condren. I would be SO lost without my planner and I know Amy loves hers just as much, so we've teamed up to give you a gift card to one of our favorite paper planner sites. I know a paper planner might seem so old school, but I swear my phone calendar deletes things (I still use it too though!) and I just prefer to write things down. While neither one of us currently has an Erin Condren planner, I do LOVE her stuff and have had various EC planners in the past and would highly recommend them to anyone that asks!



(Anyone can enter by following the rules, it's open to everyone, not just special needs parents.)

Giveaway ends on Thursday, April 20th and the winner will be announced on that Instagram post.

Good luck!



12 comments:

  1. Liz, I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again. You are such a rockstar mom. Mason is so freaking lucky you were chosen as his mom. Seriously girl! You and Seth are so on top of this and that makes such a huge impact on Mason's life. He is going to be better for it and already is. What a blessing he is and I see such amazing things happening in his future. Love him! And you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just read Jess' sweet comment and am sitting here smiling. I love that you put the disclaimer at the top of the post, it totally made me lol and I love that you highlighted Mason's stuff in blue. I totally agree with everything Jess said too. The three of y'all are just the flipping coolest. It is oh so obvious how much love there is in your home.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love all of your pictures so much. Mason is adorable and I love keeping up with you guys and all his cute adventures. Thank you for doing this with me. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love to see what other people’s weeks look like! Real life posts are my absolute favorite. While your weeks may be busy, you are doing amazing things for Mason. You are such an awesome mama, friend. I adore your sweet family. Also, you are so good at taking pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, what you do on an average week is quite incredible. Wondering what do they do in those really long ABA sessions on Saturday? You are a wonderful Mama. I'm glad to call you friend...even though we've never met :) That bike pushing picture is the cutest, btw.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you for sharing, I love learning more about you and Mason.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I absolutely loved reading this! XOXO Thank you for sharing what your life is like. I could relate to quite a bit of it!

    ReplyDelete
  8. You guys are so busy but your schedules are so well coordinated that it looks like your day to days runs smoothly (thank goodness!) Im always amazed by you :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Holy smokes girlfriend! You are busy! And I love that you use a paper planner... and planner stickers. It makes my organizational heart happy.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Liz I truly loved this glimpse into your weeks! You really are killing it as a mom in general, but even more with all the extra work that comes with autism. Each family is unique, but it's amazing to see how your operates. I love how open you are about this journey and I'm sure it is so helpful to other parents just starting down the road.

    On another note... open houses?! Are you guys thinking about building? Moving? I need the details!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Will Mason still be 4 when he starts K?

    ReplyDelete
  12. You are freaking Super Woman. Not only do you have your own work schedule to keep track of (and holy cow, you really do see the Post Office a lot!), and Mason's school schedule, there are all those appointments. You are my freaking hero.
    Time out. Seth went to a beer festival without you?! You, hands down, win Wife of the Year Award!!
    Also. Could you please send Scott a note about letting wives sleep in on the weekends? That would be amazing, thanks! ;)

    ReplyDelete

I love your comments and I love connecting with my readers! I respond back via email so please make sure that your email is connected to your profile. Thanks for stopping by :)

DESIGNED BY ECLAIR DESIGNS