How We Survived The Holidays

Like many parents of special needs children, I found myself starting to worry about and even dread the holiday season this year.  If last year’s disaster was any indication of how December 2014 was going to be, I knew I was going to be in for an awful ride.  Just to make things more interesting, in addition to Thanksgiving and Christmas, our family has five birthdays (including Michael’s) in the last six weeks of the calendar year.  Because, you know, breaking routine and adding lots of excitement and parties to life is just what every autistic kid needs to remain stable.

Last year was the first time Michael was really aware of his birthday, so we built up the anticipation and went all out.  He got an Iron Man/Avengers themed affair and dictated what kind of cake and presents he wanted.  He was SO excited about it that he was…