Explaining Liz

For the past week, I have been debating on whether or not I want to write this post. I think I am just going to take the elap and do it. Hopefully, it will help some other mom.

My kids have 5 cousins. They are all 6 and under. They are all very close. My neice is 5, and she and Liz go to kindergarten together. They look after each other. If you ask my neice she will tell you that she and Liz are "a little attached.'' I am so beyond grateful that they have each other. Becase of this, I think that Liz's differences have become more evident to my neice than to other cousins.

Last week, my sister and I were doing our weekly Super Mom trip to dance. Liz was having an especially difficult day. My sweet neice wanted to cheer up Liz (she was having a meltdown in her carseat) by making funny faces. It wasn't working. She told me that it worked for brother. She just could not understand why it would not work for Liz. I simply told her that we are all different, and Liz's mind works differently from hers. Luckily, children accept the simplest of explanations. She accepted it, and she went on without any further questions.

I knew a day would come when I would have to explain this to at least one of the cousins. It just so happens that the day before a very sweet lady had sat down with me and suggested a simple explanation for explaining Liz to Presley. That simple explanation came to my mind, and it was perfect for a 5 year old. I always wanted these questions to come from the cousins naturally, and I am glad that at least the first question came that way, I will say that I was not prepared for the emotional feelings that came with it. I think I did a good job of hiding my emotions, but the next moment I had a lone, I cried. I cried because my child was different and because she was struggling. Somedays autism is just rough. This was one of those days.

That day though, I was grateful for my neice. For the way she wanted to make Liz happy. For the way she looks after Liz. It never fails that at the end of the day my neice comes off the bus with her own things and half of Liz's. She watches out for her, she loves her, and she is best friends with her. Cousins are the best.