Amy Johnson


Pushing Through, Together

  As a parent of two boys on the autism spectrum, one of my biggest jobs is to be their cheerleader and coach.  They need to know that they are supported and that they have someone on their side, who is safe and loves them.  Jodie and I work our hardest to play those roles because, even in this day and age of  "awareness" and "understanding" there are some pretty mean people out there.  Those people?  Make our job that much harder.  As I watch my boys grow and learn and struggle and triumph, I think on what it means to have empathy for th...more

Lives Intertwined

At my niece's birthday party I found myself in the middle of telling my brother in law about why it's so cool that Hasbro has made Kre-O Transformers, since there's never been any Lego Transformers.  I caught myself and thought, "What am I doing?!"  I even told him, "It's pathetic how much I know about Transformers."  And I realized that I have, inadvertently, become a Transformer expert.  Certainly not what I aspired to be when I was growing up.  Yet after listening to Connor talk about Transformers, day after day, and trying to find him Transformer action figure r...more

The Great Hair Rebellion

  I'm getting older.  That's just what happens in life, and it doesn't worry me.  I'm not even that old in the great timeline of things (I'm 32), but I am definitely noticing a few wrinkles...a different know, all that stuff that people say happens when you get older.  Just part of it.  The one thing NOBODY mentioned to me is how my hair would start to turn on me.  Yes, for the past year I have been dealing with my hair rebelling against being its normal, cooperative self.  In the past I've always been able to just wash my hair and...more

Dangerous Shopping

We all have to go shopping sometimes.  If you're like me, this is not a favorite thing to do.  I know people who just LOVE shopping.  I am not one of those people.  Unfortunately, I can't avoid all types of shopping...namely, grocery shopping.  Today was one of the times when I had to venture out and go get some groceries.  When you opened our fridge, you heard crickets chirping.  Every time I opened a cabinet I would somehow hear the old nursery rhyme: "Old Mother Hubbard."  Finally, I had to face inevitable:  My family has to eat, I put it off ...more

Safe Haven

Imagine you are at school and music is blaring at top volume in your classroom.  At the same time you can hear every tick of the clock as if it's on a loudspeaker.  The lights are so bright they hurt your eyes, and someone is yelling at the top of their lungs at you.  Not only that, you're wearing a shirt made out of sandpaper, and your toes are being constantly rubbed in a really uncomfortable way.  You just can't seem to shut the sounds out, and you feel like your brain is going to explode.  You're trying to seek some sort of peace by putting your hands ...more

Picasso Parenting

I suppose everyone has a vision of what their life will be like as a parent.  For me, I dreamed of being the kind of family that would show up in a Norman Rockwell painting.  Jodie carving the turkey at each huge Thanksgiving dinner...or my children gathering together for impromptu baseball games with all the neighborhood kids.  As my belly grew during my first pregnancy, and I nested like a maniac, I held these visions in my head.  I just KNEW I would be the perfect mom, always patient, but firm.  My children would be obedient and would NEVER have runny noses ...more