Hey, What’s Up! It’s Tommy.

This is a short, post-Christmas encouragement for every parent who feels tired, stretched thin, or quietly overwhelmed after the holidays. Christmas can bring joy, but it can also bring stress, comparison, and emotional whiplash, especially for families raising autistic children or navigating special needs. In this episode, I want to remind you of something simple but powerful. As long as your kids have you, they have everything they need. And as long as you have your kids, you have everything you need.

We talk about family pressure, holiday expectations, and the temptation to compare our lives to the perfect pictures we see online. I share a mindset that has stuck with me, that every day we are given two things, a chance and a choice. If you opened your eyes today, you already have your chance. What you do next is your choice.

As we move out of Christmas and toward a new year, this episode is about resetting your focus. It’s about remembering your role as a parent, leaning into your marriage as a team, choosing gratitude, and finding renewed hope through faith in Jesus Christ. This is not about perfection. It’s about presence, perseverance, and showing up for the people who matter most.

• Your presence matters more than any gift or perfect holiday moment
• Comparison steals joy, focus on your own family and your own race
• Stress rises during the holidays, teamwork in marriage matters more than ever
• Every day offers a chance and a choice, how you respond sets the tone
• Faith provides steady hope when life feels heavy or chaotic
• Your kids don’t need perfect parents, they need consistent love
• Gratitude and intention can reset even the hardest days

If this episode encouraged you, please share it with another parent who might need a reminder that they are doing enough. Your support helps this message reach families who feel alone.

Visit spectrumincamouflage.com\ Email me anytime at tommy@spectrumincamouflage.com

• We’re on TikTok : tiktok.com/@spectrum_in_camouflage

• Join our Facebook Group : facebook.com/groups/4002769846662357

• See us on Instagram : instagram.com/spectrum_in_camouflage

Together, we can create a community to support autistic kids and their families.\ If you have questions, ideas, or want to share your journey, email me at tommy@spectrumincamouflage.com.

Let’s learn, grow, and make a difference, one step, one piece of the puzzle, one child at a time.

Hey, What's Up! It's Tommy.

It’s the Friday before Christmas, and Kailee and I wanted to talk honestly about what the holidays can feel like in a home like ours, the good moments, the hard moments, and everything in between. We share how Wyatt has had some high-stimulation days lately, how a good chiropractic appointment and a calm day can feel like a huge win, and how we’ve learned to stop forcing “normal” holiday expectations. We talk about getting our Christmas tree as a family, keeping things short when we need to, and letting Wyatt be comfortable even if that means he’s nearby but not involved in every tradition. Kailee also shares something big, sometimes you just need to feel your feelings, even if it looks like a “pity party” for a day. We close out with what we want you to hear most, you’re not alone, it’s okay if the holidays bring extra pressure, and Christmas is about connection, memories, and for us, keeping the birth of Christ at the center.

• It’s okay to feel sad, overwhelmed, or frustrated during the holidays, you can feel the “yuck” and still find joy.
• Some seasons require shorter outings and earlier exits, that is not failure, that is wisdom.
• You don’t have to force traditions, if your child is comfortable nearby, that still counts as being together.
• The holidays can trigger overstimulation and sleep issues, and it can hit harder than other times of the year.
• Christmas does not have to look like social media, your calm, connected moments matter.
• Parents can accidentally turn on each other under stress, naming that helps you stay on the same team.
• It helps to shift the goal from “perfect” to “peace,” and from “stuff” to “connection.”
• For our family, Christmas is about memories, and most importantly, the birth of Jesus.

If this episode hit home, share it with another parent who might need to hear it. And if you’re listening right now feeling worn down, give yourself a little grace this week.

Contact Information
Visit spectrumincamouflage.com
Email me at tommy@spectrumincamouflage.com

• We’re on TikTok: tiktok.com/@spectrum_in_camouflage
• Join our Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/4002769846662357
• See us on Instagram: instagram.com/spectrum_in_camouflage/

Together, we can create a community to support autistic kids and their families. If you have questions or ideas or want to share your journey, email me at tommy@spectrumincamouflage.com.

Let’s learn, grow, and make a difference, one step, one piece of the puzzle, one child at a time.

Hey, What's Up! It's Tommy. In this episode of Spectrum in Camouflage, I talk about some huge changes coming out of the CDC around the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns, what that means to us as autism and special needs families, and how I am learning to sit beside grief instead of living inside it. I share my own struggle with survivor’s guilt after losing a firefighter brother in our town, the weight of looking back at early vaccine decisions for Wyatt, and how all of this ties into mental strength, faith, and the way we keep showing up as parents, spouses, and caregivers in the middle of hard news and heavy feelings.

• Community matters more than ever, especially for autism and special needs families who feel like they are walking this road alone.
• We talk about the CDC’s recent vote to stop giving the hepatitis B vaccine in the first 24 hours of life, and why that hits so close to home for me as Wyatt’s dad.
• I share how our story lines up with Jenny McCarthy’s experience and why so many parents feel a mix of vindication, anger, sadness, and relief as more autism-related information comes out.
• Mental health for parents is really about mental strength, learning to feel our emotions fully, then shifting instead of stuffing everything down.
• My coach Steve’s advice, “feel the emotion and then let yourself shift,” has helped me work through survivor’s guilt, medical regret, and the hard parts of our autism journey.
• We dig into how to “sit beside” the struggle, not inside it, so we can still show up for our kids, our spouse, our work, our churches, and our communities.
• There is a growing movement around autism, vaccine timing, Tylenol use, glutathione, and big players like Pfizer and the CDC, and I encourage you to research, ask questions, and protect your kids with both faith and knowledge.
• Moms of kids with special needs are some of the strongest humans on earth, and they deserve real community, real support, and friends who check in when the news and the holidays feel heavy.

• We’re on TikTok: tiktok.com/@spectrum_in_camouflage
• Join our Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/4002769846662357
• See us on Instagram: instagram.com/spectrum_in_camouflage

Together, we can create a community to support autistic kids and their families. Let’s learn, grow, and make a difference, one step, one piece of the puzzle, one child at a time.