I love sleep! I could lounge around in the bed for most of the day if I were a wealthy woman. I want my eight hours every night. It is a very rare evening that I manage to stay awake to finish watching the local news or The Daily Show. I love sleep!!! I mean...doesn't everyone? When I was a younger lassie my father would wake me up by flipping on my light and yelling, "Wake up and piss Sherri Lynn, the world's on fire!" I hope that does not offend anyone but that is what he said. Later on, he would just turn my stereo on real, real loud.

Anyway, I love sleep and would truly expect any of my offspring to genetically love sleep too. In fact, I am sleepy right now! But, it seems that one of my offsprings is not quite so keen on the idea. Wanna guess who? Of course, Sir Dantes. Let the bedtime wars begin.

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It's an expression my wife uses every now and then; "Reliving the toddler years." It refers to the fact that our son, who is 9 and has autism, is developmentally stuck in his toddler years in many regards. It can be tough for a parent to face sometimes because it means that our kid is not normally developing. We didn't get the same kind of kid that everyone else got. His mind is not advancing at the same rate as other kids his age. He's 9, but he acts like he's 2 or 3. And most 2 and 3-year-olds have a much larger vocabulary and speak more clearly than our son.

But, it's not all that bad. Really, it's a blessing. Our son is a blessing from God. Braden still calls for his "Daddy" and his "Mama." I love it when he calls for me, when he needs me. "Come here, Daddy." It's a great feeling! And he needs me a lot more than a typical 9-year-old needs his Dad. It's nice to be needed!

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Yesterday while I was at work I took a coffee break. As I walked back to the kitchen and got an afternoon pick-me-up I started to notice all the diversity in my office. There were a group of young teens hanging out together in the clubhouse playing with their I pods and phones. Two boys, one white and one black, and three girls, all black.

At the table in the leasing office my boss, who is a white lady, was discussing the terms of breaking a rental contract with a black gentleman who leases some property with us. One of our consultants, a young Hispanic, was one the phone talking to a resident who needed some maintenance work done. Our other consultant, who is Asian, was discussing rental terms with a couple of prospects who were both from the Middle East. Wow. I thought about our other staff members who do maintenance. There are respectfully made of up one white guy who is also part Hispanic, another white guy who is also part Native American, three Hispanic men and a Hispanic lady. Just for the record, I am white and Native American. Talk about a group of many colors!

But, you know who I didn't see?

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I am sure you have heard the question, "What do you get the person who has everything?". Well, around here is it usually, "What do you get someone who has autism?". From what I have read and heard you have probably thought the same thing. We started thinking about what to get Sir Dantes months ago. By the time to start shopping rolled around we had only two answers: something with wheels and something for his Nintendo game.

So, we got him a big yellow Tonka dump truck and John Deer tractor with a tailor on the the back. Then another truck was bought for his stocking. Surly there was something else besides trucks and Donkey Kong. Like most fine Americans I had to make the last minute run to the Wal Mart. But, it was at Wal Mart that I found the hopefully perfect gift: a Play School Doodle Sketch Pad.

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