My ASD kid's elementary school graduation/"social" party is tonight too, and I am making him go anyway even though he's not that thrilled about it, because in addition to being Different Mom I am also Suck It Up Sometimes Mom, and I want to go. We will probably only make an appearance.

It's only maybe this year that my Child 1 can stand to be at school on crazy hair day. It's an autistic kid nightmare. He has a hard enough time remembering who is who. People looking not like themselves is really hard. I said something not-quite-kind but also not intentionally mean to my NT almost 7 year old daughter in the car this morning, and I knew it made her sad, and I couldn't think of how to make it better besides asking her if she was OK about 17 times on the way there. (I also asked "are you sad?" to which she answered, in a small voice, "No, I'm just tired.") I suck.