Are you sleep deprived?  A snooze button abuser? Tired of being exhausted?  It comes with the territory.  Sleep deprivation is quite common for those raising a child with special needs.  It can go on for years with no real end in sight.

At one point, I was a full time Kindergarten teacher, raising 5 kids, zonked out on the couch an hour or so before dinner, every afternoon.  I had no energy. I was physically drained. All I could think about was getting through the day to get to my nap, then getting through the evening to get to bed. This, my friends was back in the day when Josiah was actually a decent sleeper, though I find it hard to believe it was ever really true of him.  It feels like he’s been nocturnal his entire life.

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Josiah recently had the opportunity to ride through our local grocery store in a Caroline’s Cart. It totally changed our shopping experience in a remarkable way.

Prior to this, Josiah didn’t frequent the grocery store much.  Not since the days we could squish his extra long body into the toddler section of the grocery cart.  Not since the days we could hoist him up over the side to sit in the main section of the grocery cart. Not since the days he started throwing the groceries out of the cart because they were taking up ‘his’ space.

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Josiah is 13.  You would think by this age, he would be very adept at feeding himself.  However, until recently, he really wasn’t.  Unless we sat right next to Josiah and held onto his plate or bowl, typically it went flying.  We learned early on it was important to never leave Josiah’s side during meals.  Suction cup bottoms on bowls or plates were a joke.  Josiah peeled those up effortlessly.

At one point, I put  heavy duty Velcro on the bottom of his plate to secure it to the table.  That worked for a short while.  But this kid is smart.  He figured out if he pulled long enough and hard enough he could rip that plate right up off the table and throw it across the room.

Needless to say there were many, many times over the years in which we had to clean up food off the floor, off the walls, off the furniture, off the drapes and off the ceiling even. Many, many times we had Josiah clean up his food mess, which really was us hand-over-hand helping Josiah (who was most often vehemently opposed to cleaning it up), clean it up.

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By far one of our most favorite products for Josiah are his backwards jammies.  ‘Little Keeper Sleepers’ are inescapable zippered back pajamas that put a stop to sleeper and diaper removal.

If you have a child who requires little sleep and likes to assist with removing unwanted contents from his pull-up in the middle of the night when everyone is asleep, you may want some of these too. They are super cute, super soft and oh so comfy.  Josiah really seems to like them. Rick and I love them. They are amazing and have been a life changer for us.  Read more…