It’s a quiet morning. Kiran is celebrating with his dad this year, Eric is getting some much needed sleep after getting up at 5 am to get the turkeys in, Pickle got his good food, and Tux has a new toy. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is on, and the coffee is strong.

I am stepping away and pretending I’m not a grad student until Monday, and it’s a much needed deep breath.

I miss writing about my life, but honestly, I haven’t had the energy. Or time. Or motivation. It’s been a challenging and overwhelming season.

I have been taking steps to really take care of my mental health – and honestly, that is taxing too. It’s hard work, shooting for balance.

Kiran has been doing so well. No illness so far this school year!! I know we are getting into the worst of the cold/flu season, but I am thankful we got this far. His health overall has been stable and we are currently enjoying a time of simply routine appointments with all his specialists. I know this ebbs and flows, so I am always thankful for these times.

He had his last speech session at Childserve last week, before starting a pre-planned step away from outside therapies for the rest of the school year. This will be the first time, since he was a year old, that we will NOT be going to Childserve twice a week. It is a long overdue break for us all. We will check in and re-evaluate and make a longterm therapy plan sometime this spring, but I am firmly not starting any outside therapy until summer at the earliest.

I guess you could say I am thankful for the steps our family is taking toward balance.