Christmas Eve
Each year, my step-sister is kind enough to include us in their celebration. They do the full Italian Feast of the Seven Fishes and they eat late, in the Italian style. So, to make sure the boys got to see everyone, we would go over for appetizers and then make our exit as they began to prepare to sit down for dinner.
This earlier exit allowed us to go home, read the Night Before Christmas, put out cookies and milk for Santa and get the boys tucked in. Then we could put all the presents under the tree, assuming we were finished assembling everything (ugh).
And since Christmas morning usually started pretty early in our house…we’d try to squeeze in a couple of hours of sleep before the madness began.
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About the Author
Erica Mauro is a mom to two teenage boys, Will who is neurotypical and Michael with Autism and cognitive delays. She holds a BA in Psychology from Colgate University and a Masters of Psychology in Education from Columbia Teacher’s College. Before staying home with her children, she worked as an elementary school teacher. For five years, she served on the Board of Directors of the Molly Ann Tango Memorial Foundation, a charity dedicated to enriching the lives of children with special needs. In partnership with her husband Dave, she aspires to parent by using daily life as an opportunity for therapeutic intervention, seizing on real experiences as opportunities to build skills and strategies for Michael in a joyful, loving home environment. On the tougher early days, she just tried to get everyone safely to bedtime and start fresh in the morning. *wink* 
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