One Moment in Time

Our 16-year-old son has really started getting into the Christmas spirit over the past few years. And as a mother, that is always exciting.

For the holidays, we went for a 4-night stay to a cabin in the mountains. As usual, I packed plenty of activities to keep him on a schedule. Or at least to prevent him from going stir crazy. Luckily, we had picked a cabin with stairs. That was a huge help because after going up and down them all day, it did eventually begin to wear him down.

I vary sitting time with activity/nature walk time and music/video time. I also rotate parent/sibling time to allow a breather for each family member. Which, after 16 years of dealing with autism, is very much needed.

For this trip, I happened to have planned a sleigh ride. Our son has been obsessed with the movie "Santa Clause" and "Polar Express" for years. I took a chance that this might just be something he would enjoy.

Nine times out of 10, this would end in disaster! But this time was different. It was perfect!!!  As we loaded the sleigh, he was simply in awe. No screaming out, no protesting, no fighting us, he was just happy.

He loved the lights along the path and enjoyed the sound of the bells on the horses. It was another one of those precious moments I wanted to freeze in my memory forever.

These special moments in time are just so rare. I can't think of a better way to celebrate the holidays than by going on a sleigh ride with my favorite elf!

There are lots of family stories, advice and ideas for you to read and enjoy in the NLT blog.