Stacie Sherman

I return to this blog, like a long lost friend. Eager to see my fingers sweep across the keyboard. But where do I begin? Like that friend you haven’t seen in so long. There’s so much to say, but you are silent, paralyzed by the decision over where to start. Do you start where you…

It was not until I became Brielle’s mama that I realized the incredible bond between mother and daughter. Don’t get me wrong, I love my son just as much. But the relationship is different. Perhaps because of Brielle’s special needs, she and I are closer than I ever thought possible. I feel like I need…

How can we expect our employers and colleagues to understand our work-life balance if they only know the work side of our equation?

This Mother’s Day, Brielle wakes with the roosters. She changes her purple pajamas for pink-and-gray ones. They are put on beautifully backwards, with a big white butterfly on her back instead of her front. The old pajamas are in a pile in her bathroom. Brielle charges into her mama’s room with a Barney DVD in…

I wish I had taken Bree on a plane when she was little. By now she would have been a pro. Flying with her was something I talked myself out of doing numerous times, convincing myself the stress was not worth the effort. But I think it would have been. I would love to show…

It’s amazing how a quick interaction with a stranger can stick with you. Mine came early this morning around 6am when I pulled into Wawa to fill up my tank and get a cup of coffee. I got out of the car asked the guy to fill it up and handed my card to him.…

I thought I could handle anything. I thought life had thrown me all the hardest curves. And then came 2020. Everything I thought I knew disintegrated as a pandemic swept into town, forcing me to work from home, my daughter’s school to close, my husband’s sales to slow, my son’s anxiety to balloon. Forcing my…

Sending our special-needs kids back to school poses many risks, no doubt. So does keeping them home. It’s understandable to be wary. But the alternative does not solve the problem. In fact, it creates many additional ones. I don’t think any of us expected to be home this long. But here we are, more than…

Even in the middle of a state park, surrounded by 19 majestic waterfalls, signs of Covid-19 were present. Literally. Signs directing visitors to stay six feet apart, to hike in one direction. People wearing masks, keeping their distance. But still, the area offered us the best chance of a brief escape from the lockdown and…

The reality of the new coronavirus hit me about a week ago, when the number of cases in my home state of New Jersey was still relatively low, less than 50, but had possibly reached my town. A mother and daughter were self-quarantining after working a house party in Princeton where several positive cases were…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of people at higher risk to get sick from Covid-19 includes older adults and people with serious chronic conditions like heart disease and diabetes. But there is a whole other population in danger, a group of adults who can’t speak for themselves, because they can’t speak at…

The year began with a celebration at our house with friends made over the past few years. Friends who understand me and have gotten to know me better than I have let past friends get to know me. I am honest about my feelings and my struggles. I am myself around them and they love…

This was written a few months ago. Took me a while to hit the publish button. I can’t be anything but myself. I have lost the ability to put on a brave or happy face. People ask me how I have been and I don’t have it in me to lie and say great. I…

Poop is going to be the end of me. It’s also going to be the topic of this post, so if you’re queasy, be warned. Poop is the cause of so much pain, so much stress, for so many autism mamas. So many kids with autism have stomach issues, mine included. Many studies show that…

I was in the bathroom with Bree the other night. We were out to dinner at a nice restaurant for Mother’s Day. It was probably the fifth time we were in the bathroom that night. As I stood in the big stall giving toileting directions to my 17-year-old daughter, a woman came in to the…

This is the post I should have written so long ago. This is the post about the most beautiful women in the world. I’m not exaggerating when I say my two aunts are the biggest influences in my life. And they probably don’t know that because I have done such an awful job of communicating…

I would not be able to forgive myself if I ended April without a blog post about my other half. He has been in my life and my kids’ lives for more than 12 years. I cannot picture our lives without him. When we started dating, my son was 6 1/2 and my daughter was…

What do you want to be when you grow up? When do you need to grow up? Are you being what you wanted to be when you grew up? Are you supposed to do what you love or do what you know? Can you do both? These are huge questions for all of us, but…

Anyone who just started reading my blog this month must think I am a big crab-ass . Well it just so happens it’s been a crappy April so far. My life is not awful. It’s wonderful. I know you can’t tell that from my April posts. But I’ve been down in the dumps. My life…

In my daughter’s room there is a mini trampoline, a swing hanging from the ceiling and a ton of toys and stuffed animals. She has had most of the toys for years. They all are “suitable” for children far younger than her. Most of those toys have sat there for weeks, months, years untouched. The wooden six- to…

Twenty minutes after last night’s freakout, she was back downstairs. A smile on her face, asking for a drink. She amazes me. One minute she is screaming, the next she is laughing. I don’t think she knows how to hold a grudge. It takes me a bit longer. I had stopped crying, but I was…

I pull my car in my driveway and put it in park. As I open the door to get out, a safety bell dings and a warning message flashes, telling me to make sure I don’t leave my kid behind. It’s a bittersweet reminder that my backseat is empty. One week down, two to go.…

I dropped Bree off at sleepaway camp today, climbed in the car and cried. Partly because I missed her already. Partly because I worried about leaving her for three long weeks. But most of the tears came because I knew that I could not wait to drive out of that parking lot. It has not been…

My daughter and I have been enjoying the warmer weather. Walks to the park have become our little thing. Of course they’re not your typical walks or your typical visits to the playground. But they are ours and I cherish them. We hold hands and walk, and once we get to the playground she does…

This one has nothing to do with my kids and everything to do with me. Allow me this space for some self-pity. Writing it will be my therapy, and then I can return to our regularly scheduled programming. My 31st Mother’s Day without my mother approaches. I should be an old pro by now. But…

Well, we made it to the end of April. I almost did a post a day. I had the best of intentions, but the past few days got away from me. And my kids were away the past few days! I should have had plenty of time to write. But this past weekend was filled…

We sat on the kitchen floor after I pulled out her favorite book. I was trying to prolong her going to sleep. It was kind of early and I was not in the mood to get up at 4 a.m. again. Monday are always kind of rough for my daughter. She comes home from school…

I was looking through old photos over the weekend and I came across one of me carrying my daughter with one hand and pushing a double stroller with another.  We were at a local fair, my son must have been off running around with his dad or his grandma. That photo was taken when my…

What causes autism? It’s a question I’ve been waiting for scientists to answer for more than 15 years. Plenty of people and studies will tell you what doesn’t cause it, or tell you what increases the chances of your kid having autism. But the precise cause remains unknown. I’m a journalist. If there is a…

They don’t scream because they like the sound. They scream because it’s the only way they know to make themselves heard. My daughter typically is a happy kid, as far as autism goes. I literally just knocked on wood — I do so every time I say something is good, as if that will prevent…

You think I’m pretty special? I’m nothing compared to my daughter’s teachers. I do what I do because she’s my child. I have to. She’s my heart, my creation. Her teachers choose to do this. And I’m grateful for each and every one of them. My daughter is blessed to be a student at an…

I love quality time with my kids. Just as much, I love quality time without them. That doesn’t make me a bad mom. It makes me a better mom. My kids spend every other weekend with their father in the adjacent state where he lives with his second wife and their daughter. Back home, I…

The other day, I crawled into her bed as she watched a Sesame Street DVD, just to keep her company. As I read my book, she stared at me. Each time I looked over her, she smiled and made quiet little happy noises. I adjusted my arm so she could put her head on it.…

​Dear Brielle’s counselors,   Hi! This is Brielle’s mom! I apologize in advance. This letter is going to be long. But this is the first year that Brielle is going to sleepaway camp for three whole long weeks, and I’m a nervous wreck.  Just imagine what it must be like to send your non-verbal, mentally…