Hurricane Cody.  Octopus on speed.  The Little Dictator.

To say Cody has been a handful is an extreme understatement, as those nicknames that we’ve given him (starting at about 5 months of age and into toddlerhood) testify.

My husband and I also frequently say that while we may only have one child, we are having the full experience. And I realized this morning: I really am.

I shared this photo early this morning with another social media mom who also has a son with epilepsy and ADHD (as well as autism).  She had posted a photo of herself standing behind her two sons with a hand on each of them.  The caption read,

“How do you recognize the mama of a child that had autism, adhd, and is a constant flight risk?  Look at how they’re positioning their hands on their kids for pictures. 🤣”

Which made me laugh because I have been there so many times that, before I even read “constant flight risk,” I thought it.  Yes, those exact words. 

Constant. Flight. Risk.  Oh my.

(Note the FULL ARM wrap I’m utilizing to capture “The Hurricane” for the photo.)

I didn’t necessarily laugh in the moment but, reading that post and thinking back, I can definitely laugh at the struggle now.  Maybe being able to share it with someone else makes it easier to laugh.

And Chuck and I have laughed day after day for over a decade about something Cody has said or done. Years later, we still laugh about some of those things.

Yet, I’ve also cried more in those years than I ever thought I would, from fatigue, fear, and even anger at our life’s situation.

It seems impossible that something that cuts out a little part of me could also make my life so full.

I guess a life doesn’t have to be perfect to be perfect.