Anxiety.

It can be debilitating for adults and brutal to deal with on a daily basis.

But to watch your nine year old son overwhelmed and filled with anxiety is heartbreaking.

And the hardest part?

He’s not able to talk to me about it.

Children with limited verbal communication can’t express themselves well.

They have a hard time describing their wants and needs, or if they’re sick or hurt.

It can be extremely difficult for them and heart wrenching for us as their parents.

Anxiety can manifest in different ways and it destroys happiness and steals your joy.

And that’s exactly what it did to our sweet boy from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

Anxiety and obsessive thoughts over the one thing he asked Santa for.

A big T-Rex dinosaur.

Our sweet bubba’s love for dinosaurs runs deep.

He lives, breathes and sleeps dinosaurs.

He has the largest dinosaur collection you’ll ever see.

And probably the biggest Jurassic World fan in the world.

It’s amazing and beautiful to watch him with his dino collection, lining them up perfectly across our living room floor.

One of the cute quirks I love about him – Thank you autism.

But with that, comes a bit of an obsession.

His brain gets “stuck” on something and sometimes you can’t get him to think about anything else.

This was one of those times.

And I could do nothing to help him.

Thankfully playing in the snow, building gingerbread houses and playing with his brother helped distract a little.

But it was all the in between moments, eating, and trying to sleep that were impacted by his anxiety.

He barely slept the night before Christmas.

This photo was taken at bedtime on Christmas evening.

In this picture, I see my son finally relaxed.

Snuggled together, a boy and his dinosaur.

His anxiety has subsided and his brain can finally rest.

I’m grateful he is feeling better and was able to fall asleep.

And before I rest my head on the pillow tonight, I will pray this doesn’t happen again for a very long time.