Isn't it nice to know that the lining is silver?

Sometimes I focus a lot on what's going wrong in our little world. It's pretty much just our real life because if something wrong is going to occur, it will - and the timing will be terrible. Murphy's law and all that.

But every once in a while, things are really great. The thing about autism parenting is that we experience a lot of silver linings - we find a lot of redemptive moments in the really hard day-to-day.

An example:

A few weeks ago, we missed the bus for school. It was crazy trying to get us all out the door, and I just knew we weren't going to make it to the bus so - I had to take Grayson to school that day. His para had been on vacation and he hadn't seen her since before Christmas. It was her first day back. When I took Grayson up to the door of the school, she was waiting for him. He was so thrilled to see her - I will never forget the look on his face, or the way she said, "I missed you!" She was just as excited to see him. He pressed his face to hers in greeting, and it was so sweet.

It was TOTALLY worth it to be late to school that day just so I could witness that interaction. 

Silver lining.

Another one:

A few weeks ago, we found out that Post is not stocking their Oreo O's cereal in a lot of stores anymore. I don't know if they are ramping production down, if they are discontinuing them - or what. But this cereal is something my children - especially Easton - live on. It's one of the main food groups in our house - and it's not entirely bad for them, because it's cereal...right? A breakfast food? ;)

We went through our last box of Oreo O's, and Easton was very upset. I made an offhand comment about it on Facebook then...

Within days, two people dropped off large shipments - ten boxes each! - of Oreo cereal! A few days later another friend dropped off what she found at the store. We now have enough Oreo cereal to last us until summer - at least! We were SO touched!!! Easton was so thrilled he built several castles out of the boxes! :)

Silver lining.

Another example...

I had the very rare opportunity to go out for the day with three of my very good friends. I can't remember the last time I had done that - been gone all day out with friends. It had been years. Probably since before my kids were born! We had the nicest time. In the days leading up to our outing, I have been so worried that it wouldn't actually happen. Excitement is a lost art in this house because our plans fall through all the time because of sickness, scheduling, meltdowns...so many meltdowns...all these things have contributed to things being canceled. 

So when we were all loaded up in the car and on our way, I breathed a huge sigh of relief! I might have said something along the lines of  "I didn't think this was even going to happen! Everyone in my house is healthy! Now we can all get sick tomorrow and it will just be what it is!"

In a weird type of self-fulfilling prophecy, my entire family came down with Covid just a few days later.

What's the silver lining here? That I still go to go! That I still got to have a day out with friends before all that happened - that I had a few hours to myself to breathe, talk uninterrupted with my friends and not have to be hypervigilant. It was truly so wonderful.

And lastly...Another silver lining to being sick with covid...

We were continually encouraged and taken care of by our neighbors. Our neighbors across the street made us dinner, brought over breakfast and made a McDonald's run  One brought over cupcakes. And our next-door neighbors made various porch drops for us. And my parents - who are also neighbors - ran errands for us. Other neighbors checked in on us and offered to get us whatever we needed. We definitely have our own little community back here, and I am so so thankful!

I don't really like that saying that not every day is good but there is something good in every day. It's probably true - but when you are in continual survival mode, it can be nearly impossible to see something good. 

Last year for several months I wrote down three things good every single day, and it was pretty difficult many days. But looking back in the grander scheme of things, it was much easier to spot some positive things in the middle of some hard times. 

What are some silver lining moments you have experienced lately?