Asher's Antics, Adventures, and... Autism: Awesome Twosome

Other than family, my boys haven't really ever had a babysitter. When you have a big family, you have plenty of options. A few years ago, I put trust into one of my students. Holly babysat for me when Asher was little. He was pretty easy and Knox was easy too. I would ask her to come over if we had a game and I think I may have had a rare date once. Of course, she went off to college and I was back to having no one.

I spoke to a coworker about her son's girlfriend and if she thought she might be interested. Lexi became my new sitter. As Asher got older and we learned more about him, I filled Lexi in on his new tricks and what to watch for. We were putting our kids in the hands of this girl, but she always made me feel confident about leaving him. Lexi's longtime boyfriend is Cade. Every time I saw Cade, he wanted to see pictures of Asher. He was so fascinated by that baby.

Cade started coming to my house with Lexi to babysit. I know what you're thinking. Yes, I allowed my kids to be supervised by these 2 teens. You know why? I had built a trust with them. They genuinely liked my boys. Cade played Star Wars with Knox. Lexi handled all of the dirty jobs. They followed Asher's diet and even handled his "poop episodes."🙈

Every time I returned home, I found the toys were picked up, bellies were full, and my boys were safe. Asher can be a handful. Lexi never once made it seem like it was a tough job. She told me all of the cute things he did. Knox always filled me in on what Cade played with him. It usually involved a pair of light sabers.

Finding someone that is trustworthy, responsible, and respectful to keep kids is hard. Finding these qualities in someone to keep a special needs kid is even harder. I just can't explain how grateful Randy and I are to have these kids in our lives. The only downside is that these two will be seniors next school year. 🙁

Lexi and Cade come from great families. They are smart, athletic kids that we have relied on with the most precious of gifts. They became a part of our village whether they realized it or not.