We got spirit, yes we do.

Where to begin on last night's House? Let's start by asking how many women Hugh Laurie can stand very close to and just...OK, I know that he's really old. Like, what, 40? 50? I don't know. But, DUDE. DUDE. Yeah. OK. Moving on to the actual topic of discussion.

In last night's episode, Mom and Dad are at home with their autistic child, trying to get him to cooperate. Kid bangs juice cup on the table. "Do you want more juice?" Mom asks.

"If he wants juice, he has to ask for it," says Dad. And Mr. WG and I carefully avoid making eye contact with each other.

Now, D. is not autistic. Of this, we are certain. In fact, the neurologist who evaluated him at 6 months told us that people wouldn almost certainly raise the question down the line, but she told us to simply ignore them. But still. The whole communication issue -- as much as D. is learning to say, as much as he interacts with us, it is still painful to think about what could be and frightening to contemplate what still might be ahead.

D. is strong. Really strong. Mr. WG often calls him "The Gentle Giant." This is mostly true, except that lately D's habit is knocking over Baby J and laughing hysterically. This is sort of normal behavior for a kid D's age, but since D. is so BIG and STRONG, Baby J. kind of goes flying and it's not pretty. So D. gets a time out and I just -- I worry.

At this point, I can just barely physically restrain D. and/or make him do what I want when necessary. Get in or out of the car, the stroller, the store, etc. But in another 6 months? NOT A FREAKING CHANCE. So I have to get him to behave, to cooperate.

Sometimes it feels like I'm trying to break his spirit.

Sometimes it feels like he's trying to break mine.