An Anniversary Celebration

On Wednesday my husband and I celebrated our four year wedding anniversary. It certainly doesn't feel like four years ago, in fact I was convinced we had only been married three years. So convinced in fact, that I had entered it in to the family diary... '3 year anniversary'. It was only when we consulted the date tattooed on to my back that I realised it was four years, and not three. It doesn't feel possible that it was that long ago!

We don't really do date night, or nights out. That kind of thing just isn't possible when you have a child with ASD. Neil doesn't sleep well, and is prone to some anxiety at night, and it just wouldn't be fair to leave him in the house with someone else, the change in routine would be too much for him.

We're not really in to that kind of thing anyway, we both prefer a night in with a take away and a movie, and maybe a little bit of xbox. The simple life!

We had planned on going out for a picnic as a family in the afternoon, as a little bit of a celebration with the kids. Of course, the lovely Northern Irish weather put a stop to that plan, as we really didn't fancy a wet picnic. The change of plan wasn't going to put a damper on our day, so we decided to have a picnic in the living room instead.

We laid out a spread on the floor. Sandwiches, cakes, biscuits, crisps. All kinds of unhealthy, but absolutely delicious treats. The kids stuffed their faces until crumbs burst out of their mouths, and I wasn't far off!



After our lovely afternoon picnic, we had a chill day in the house.

Once we had put the kids to bed at 7:30, we ordered in a pizza from our favourite take away and watched a movie together on the sofa. The kids, who are usually up and down every 15 minutes, were on strict instructions to stay in bed so we could watch our movie.

About three quarters of the way in, I heard shuffling in the hall, and looked out to see Caitlin sitting in the darkness peering in to us. My instant reaction was to get a little bit cross, and I shouted at her to get back upstairs to bed. A little later on I went upstairs to the toilet to find Caitlin sitting in the doorway of Neil's bedroom, waiting for me. 'I've left something downstairs for the both of you' she said, before running in to the bedroom. When I went downstairs I found a toilet roll tube decorated with little pictures and hearts.


It absolutely melted me. It was so sweet of her, she knew it was a special day for mummy and daddy and she wanted to show us she cared. The way she nervously waited around so she could give it to us, and how she waited upstairs to tell me about it after I had shouted at her. I immediately felt so awful for shouting. I went upstairs to give her a big cuddle and tell her how much I loved her. While I was upstairs, I was presented with another decorated toilet roll tube from Neil. They really are the sweetest little people, bless them. I will be keeping the thoughtful hand made gifts as a wee keepsake of the day.

It was a lovely way to end our nice, low key celebration. Here's to another year of marriage, may it be  as wonderful as the last!