I feel like I have been focusing on the struggles I have a lot lately. So today I wanted to focus on some of the quirks we have in our very neurodivergent home.

Notebooks: I have boxes of notebooks. My daughter has shelves of them. Most of them have like 2 pages written on them, then they get shelved away. This of course drives my wife nuts, but its our reality. My Novel Writing notebook is just for that. My D&D Teacher Campaign notebook, is just for that. My Video game ideas notebook cannot have notes on any other topic. My Diary, has daily notes and and observations. My Faith notebook, has notes on religion. Every Notebook has a very specific purpose, and no other.

At work I have my diary and my Teacher planner. My planner is work related only. My diary is more a of a scrapbook. It has refillable pages, but I tape in it collector cards my students give me, sketches my children have done. Feeling and stresses do in there. sometimes I will make notes about my students there. But I only feel it is allowed because the pages are removable, and refillable. Otherwise this feels wrong.

Stuffies: Another noticeable thing is the boxes of stuffed toys. My classroom has almost a dozen stuffed toys in it. My house has stuffed toys of many shapes and sizes in every room. On top of that we have several plastic crates filled with them. I no longer collect stuffed animals at home. I don’t because my 2 daughters have picked up the mantle, and I can always hug and cuddle with theirs.

Board Games: 2 Days ago My Daughter and I decided to Tidy up and reorganize my Board game collection. We took everything out and put them in the living room. It filled the room. I Love board games, and my youngest daughter does too. The rest of the family like some of the games. Which is why we were sorting them. Games that are easy and fun to play as a family, and games that are hard, and most wont play.

I remember about 8 years ago I had a coworker who also loved board games. But I discovered our interests did not overlap. He enjoyed the newer skill based games that you dominate your friends with. I enjoy games that are a lot more casual and relaxed. what he called “Old school games”. I enjoy games with dice, like Snakes and Ladders. I enjoy games with quirky cards like The Game of Life. Or games of interaction like Pictionary. I also love ancient games and games that would feel right at home with the ancient games. Many games are too “modern” for my tastes.

Art: I love art. Art made by people I know, or given by people I know. Our walls are covered with paintings made by my children. There are paper crafts, and home made fans, and sketches of family land. My family, all of my family tend to agree on this. Everything that is on our walls, or above our cabinets, like my pet dragon “Firegorn Cinderpuff” are all connected to important people in my life.

Pro Autie-dad tip: Any weird or odd special interests are perfectly fine if they are related to your children. I introduced my son to Final Fantasy, which is one of my obsessions from childhood (Only the first 1). Onlookers didn’t bat an eye at this because I was sharing with my son. He has helped me enjoy the rest of the series, and it is one of his special interests. I am still only obsessed with the story and background of the first one, but I enjoy the rest so far too.

When my children started enjoying My Little Pony, I became a fan and would sit and obsess over them too. I do not feel like I fit the concept of a Brony. But I do enjoy the story, characters, humor, etc.

When my children were around age 10, I shared my obsession with all things Power Rangers. I tried to introduce them earlier, but the monsters scared them until they were 10. I have tucked away many notebooks on my lore notes of Power Rangers. I also had stories written down. I have purchased the Power Rangers TTRPG, but have not tried to play it yet. Unfortunately, I feel like the gamers in my area might not be ready for MegaZord Battles. My children are unfortunately, a bit too busy with their own lives to fit in an RPG Campaign right now…

Anyways I hope you enjoyed a look into the quirky parts of my life.

I found a few Sketches I made in notebooks I would like to share too…