Tearful - and effect on siblings?

OK so am feeling a little tearful today, but not sure if that is due to little sleep thanks to a bout of sickness and d last night - always helpful when hubby is still away skiing! Still feeling rough so not sure how much I'll be up to today....

This 'borderline' issue is what is still at the front of my mind today - I know everyone means well, but I'd rather people faced up to the situation than try to brush it off. Of course there's no point worrying endlessly about the future, but forewarned is forearmed and the more we can read to understand, and the quicker we can get things moving with the professionals will all be the best we can do for Sasha. It's not going to just go away, with help it may improve, but we do need to be realistic and face the fact that it could get worse. Of course I'm sure any parent of a child with severe autism would rather swap and be in my shoes right now, but that doesn't really help.

So I titled this blog 'stephstwogirls' because I am very conscious of not wanting to turn everything to be all about Sasha. I hope up til now we've had an even balance in our family and the last thing I want to see is for this to be tipped in any way. Tamsin is wonderful, enjoying school and learning so much - we're so proud of her. I'm wondering now when and what to tell her about Sasha - she's already so understanding about lots of things, but is this too much to put on her so young? Or will she end up wondering what all the doctors appointments are about and feeling left out if we don't explain? Although we will carry on teaching right from wrong and not letting Sasha get away with unacceptable behaviour, there are times when it is easier to bend the rules - such as not quite so strict mealtimes, letting her watch the DVD she wants to avoid a meltdown etc. I don't want this to start affecting Tamsin's behaviour, so feel that we will need to 'have a chat' - but how to explain? How much to say? Don't really want to turn it into a huge issue for her either, think we need to keep it lighthearted if that's possible!

Right back off to bed for me (well after some hoovering!) and maybe try to think a bit less for now.