Hello, How Do You Do?

When Jacob was little, the television show, Captain Kangaroo was popular. I looked back to check the air dates. It was the longest running children’s show in its day from 1955 until 1984. Funny that it was on the air from before I was a tiny tot to the time I had toddlers of my own.

The show started with the Good Morning Song. It was a fun song with a catchy tune and quickly I ventured off the original lyrics and made up my own version. Every now and then the song comes to mind and I’ll sing it to Jacob. Doesn’t matter to him that I can’t sing. He’ll want to hear it several times until he tires of my rendition.

Hey, good morning,
Hello how do you do?
Wake up the sunshine,
I want to share this day with you.

I started blogging to share stories about Jacob. I want the universe to know he is a really awesome guy. That is still my purpose. And, because autism is on the rise, I believe there is an audience that could be helped in knowing they are not alone. The spectrum of autism is as varied as the people with the diagnosis. But we all, as family and friends, want so desperately to make life better for those affected.

I follow various bloggers for different reasons. I love DIY, cooking, and art, to name a few. You have probably been overwhelmed at some point by the number of emails in your inbox when you follow a blog. So, I want my blog to be unique. And it is because it is our story. No one else has lived it. Your story may be similar for sure. But there is only one autism story for me to tell. Ours. What am I getting at? Here goes…

It still sounds odd for me to say, “I am a blogger.” It’s a pretty popular thing to do these days, but is altogether new to me. When you set out to blog, the format offers some interesting tools. Tools that I suppose can be useful in growing your audience. If you understand their purpose and how to implement. Those seasoned bloggers already know this but if you are ‘green’ like me, you might not realize there are various stats available to you as an administrator. Things like traffic to your site, number of views or clicks, most popular day, number of words per article, etc. One of the most enjoyable statistics for me, is the Countries information. It shows how many views per country on any given day.

Like it or not, my world is quite small. I truly forget about what is happening on the other side of the planet from us. Recently I was surprised by the number of views Problem-Free Philosophy received around Jacob’s birthday. I realize some of those could be hits that would be considered spam. But overall, when people from countries around the world read my story about my boy, I am blown away.

I want to say welcome aboard with all the southern hospitality you can imagine! Thank you for taking time out of your day to peek into our world. For allowing me to share a few minutes of my thoughts, from my heart, each week. My aim is for my words to give you encouragement and hope. Maybe some amusement and laughs. Perhaps you’ll have some questions answered or a post may raise questions. Or think about someone you know who might like to follow along. Yes, I am writing for my son but for the sons and daughters of others families as well. When I think about the last 40 years, I realize how blessed I am that Jacob is mine. I am determined to make each day of his to be the best it can be. Your presence through cyberspace, has helped me see things differently and smile on the inside!

So here’s a BIG shout out to you all. The United States and United Kingdom view this blog the most. It was truly exciting for me to know that on the day we celebrated Jacob’s birthday this year, that people in these 42 countries knew it was a special day, too.

And, maybe even silently wished him a Happy Birthday.

Thank you for stopping by. Had I known you were coming, I would have greeted you with a song:

Hey Good Morning, hello how do you do? Wake up the sunshine, I want to share this day with you!!