We’re a family of four juggling life with a few extra things tossed into the mix. Most days, we have plenty of balls in the air: autism, scoliosis, PTEN Hamartoma Tumor Syndrome, global delays, gluten-free and casein-free living, and a family tree with more food sensitivities than a grocery store label can handle.
You never quite know what the day will bring—a therapy appointment, a medical mystery, a kid meltdown, a giggle, or one of the adults melting down. Through it all, we’re learning to juggle as we go.
We hope to share recipes that are gluten-free and casein-free—casein being the protein found in dairy products—that your family may actually tolerate and enjoy. We’re here to prove that gluten-free and casein-free food can taste good. Really good.
This site isn’t here to tell you how to juggle your particular collection of chaos. It’s simply a place to share how we manage ours, in the hope that something here might be useful, encouraging, or at least make you feel a little less alone. It’s also considerably cheaper than therapy.
Joe and I have been married for 18 years this year. We love our two rascals: L, who is 16 and has an emotional and intellectual age closer to 8, and P, who is 14 and is emotionally and intellectually closer to the 8-to-10-year-old range.
I haven’t worked full-time outside the home for several years because my children’s needs made it clear that being home as their primary caregiver was the best choice for our family. Joe works from home, while I juggle daily life with appointments, therapies, homeschooling, medical care, meals, paperwork, and whatever surprise challenge the day decides to add.
Life with medically complex children and special needs can be incredibly isolating. I remember feeling completely shell-shocked during those first few years, trying to understand what was happening and how to help my kids. Thankfully, a few wise mothers noticed how adrift I was and reached out. There is no parenting book written specifically for our exact combination of medical, developmental, and dietary challenges. But there are parents who have traveled difficult roads before us—and generously helped light the way.
We often feel like we stand out because of that previously mentioned long list of diagnoses. But our life is also filled with good days, tender mercies, heartbreak, exhaustion, giggles, unexpected victories, and puh-lenty of meltdowns.
This is our version of family life: imperfect, complicated, occasionally hilarious, and always ours.