One of the things that my wife and I learned from our separation was that we had become so wrapped up in the care of our three children with Autism, that we neglected ourselves.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the routine of taking care of our demanding children and their seemingly endless list of special needs, that we very often forget to take care of ourselves.

If I’m to be completely honest with you, this is something that we’re still struggling with a bit.

Trying to find the time to spend on ourselves without staying up all hours of the night, especially if the kids are actually sleeping, is not easy. It can be so difficult that it’s much easier to just give up and forget about it.

Unfortunately, giving up can’t be an acceptable option.

If we don’t make taking care of ourselves a priority, taking care of our kids becomes more difficult.

When we don’t make the time to ensure our own health and wellbeing, it can severely limit the time we have on this Earth to care for special needs children. We all share a common fear of what will happen to our kids with Autism, once we’re gone.

In my personal experience, summer break is a very difficult time to try and focus on self-care because the kids are always there.

Rather than beat myself up for not meeting my goals, Lizze and I are making plans for when the kids return to school in a couple of weeks. Beating ourselves up only serves to make things worse.

The moral of the story is this.

I know first hand how difficult it is to make yourself a priority because it goes against our instincts to always put our kids first. The reality is that sometimes it’s important that we as parents, be selfish.

Taking better care of ourselves will only serve to make us better equipped to meet the needs our special needs children.