No matter what your circumstances, marriage is hard. Whenever you have two different people approaching anything together there’s bound to be some give and take, and when it’s creating a life together, and raising a child together, the potential for discontent becomes greater.
Throw in a child with special needs, who impacts your lives in many ways a typical child does not, the discontent grows. You can’t blame your child for the impact he has on your life. For the most part, his presence in your life is glorious, as with any child. But his needs will always take precedent and his influence is felt in nearly every decision.
Cole’s now fourteen, an age when many teens are starting to spend a couple of hours or more in the house alone whilst the parent(s) are out running errands, grabbing a bite of lunch with friends, working out, going to a movie, whatever. It’s an age where a lot of teens are also going out on their own, to the mall, parties, the movies, etc. Unfortunately, that’s not us, and it’s not Cole.
I’m certain Cole would love the opportunity to have the freedom to hang out with friends, doing something fun with out parents or adults. But he needs someone to support him, even if it’s just pushing his wheelchair, and making sure he’s included in the activity. The opportunity has never come up, not yet, but it’s also not something we can impose on his friends.
We don’t have great childcare at the moment and moving him is so much harder on him since the surgery, which leaves us with little opportunity for date nights and the like. Not having alone time puts a lot of stress on a marriage. You’d think not spending time together would prevent it but I find the disconnect makes things so much harder. It often feels like two people moving through a life side by side, but not together.
I’ve given it a lot of thought because my husband was traveling quite a bit these past months and given to my own devices, I create my own routines and it’s then hard for him to break back in to the fold. We bickered and bitched for the first weeks that he was home, and just this weekend things started to feel reconnected. We didn’t pick on one another, we accomplished things, and we relaxed a bit. I’m hopeful that we can continue on this path for the next few months where he’s homebound and not traveling. It’s nice to see glimpses of “us” again.
I love your brain 
Good stuff, agreed marriage is hard and with children yes. I don’t know what it must be like to also have a child with special needs, but I can imagine it is difficult as best. Agreed that marriage can definitely be hard sometimes, but so worth it. Best of wishes to you and your family.
I can understand, the cycles of getting into a routine without your partner/significant other. It becomes so overwhelming. I’m sure that it’s hard lifting, and positioning Cole as he is now 14. How have you all coped with that? My son will be 10 in February, and his weight and length is getting the best of me. Thank you for sharing.