TO MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY

To all the friends and family that I haven't seen in a while.....please know that it's not that I DON'T want to visit....I just find it hard sometimes to find the time. And not only that, but it's hard to find the "right time" with my kids. I'm lucky to have Derek go anywhere with me anymore (although I TOLD him that he HAS to go to the family 4th of July picnic). And with Cody....well, with Cody, sometimes it can be kind of hard on everyone...don't get me wrong...I take him out -ALL the time, BUT with strangers, it is easy to walk away when he has his meltdowns or gets upset for some reason or another......with my family and friends, it is hard to just walk away. I see the way people look at him when he's in a "Cody mood"....and I don't want my family and friends to think any less of him......He is a good kid and I find that there are not very many people out there that understand. Heck, sometimes I even don't. But never-the-less, I am there for him and I learn new things every day. I know that there are people out there who don't agree with how I'm raising my sons, but then again, they are not the ones raising them--I am. I see the eye rolls when he screams and raves. I hear the huffs and remarks when he runs and says the things that is on his mind (even though I wish he wouldn't)....But before they do what they do or say what they say, I just wish they'd sit back and think what they'd do if they were living the life of that child. Or that parent who is trying their hardest to make the world a better place for her little one. Yes, he might look just like me and you BUT inside he is not me or you. He is HIMSELF.....and like it or not, he has his own battles to face. So please don't judge him on the things he can't do or things he doesn't do like "the rest of us".....love him for what he can do and for who he is!!!! Afterall, he is one of the two best things that have ever happened to me!!!!