2026 is here.
And it started the way 2025 ended: beautifully(ish) chaotic.
Two and a half weeks off with the kids - full family mode. The cocktail of candy-canes (essentially child LSD), no routine (we tried with daily fitness … it wasn’t enough), 4 Birthdays (Harper, Indi, Allie & Jesus) and 2 parents who had nothing left to give …. it was what it was. It took us about 14 days to find rhythm. Then Melbourne finally sorted its weather out, and the final few days were genuinely magic.
Three quick highlights:
Aussie Christmases still aren’t as good as UK ones (sorry but facts are facts).
Boxing Day Test was laughable. BUT, the early finish meant my Uncle over from the UK got some extra days with us!!
Parent-Carer win: We/ Santa didn’t wrap any of Indi’s presents. We just left them open and available for her. No expectations. No disappointment. Just let Indi do Indi. Felt good. Felt right.
Beach Karen vs. Bunnings Angel
This holiday season brought with it two very different moments in public parenting. One where I wanted to scream, and one that made me cry (in a good way).
The beach: Indi bolts (as she does). We’ve been tracking her for an hour already, keeping her safe, but she’s fast! She finds a random woman sunbathing. And decides lying on top of her is a great idea.
I sprint after her, seconds behind, smile on my face, start to lift Indi off, and before I can speak:
“Why did your child just sit on me?”
And not in a nice, lol, curious way. In like a horrible way. I mean at the beach, you take 1 second to look at indi and you know she operates in a different way to typical kids. It was a cruel tone. There was no need.
Old me would’ve apologised. Would’ve explained. Would’ve over-shared, apologising for indi’s natural behaviour, to make this stranger feel comfortable.
But this time
“She’s autistic*. Her brain works a little differently.”
Her response?
“Well you need to keep a closer eye on her then.”
You F’in what?!!!!! 🤬
Do you know how many hours I spend watching her? How many hours we pour into keeping her safe? Into building a world that works for her? Every second of every day we have eyes on her.
I just looked at her and said:
“She’s disabled. I spend every minute I’m awake keeping an eye on her.”
And walked away. Before I said what I was really thinking.
Because I don’t need to apologise for Indi. She didn’t choose this world. And she doesn’t need to apologise for how she moves through it. And we don’t either.
Then Bunnings: The kids race in and Indi wants to sit in the kiddie trolley. Technically not allowed. But meltdown risk = sky high. So we let her. Because we are running calculations every second of every day to manage the trade offs in her safety in the moment Vs the safety of a meltdown and dis-regulation in the future. Mentally exhausting, but its what we have to do.
A Bunnings worker sees us:
“Ooh children can’t go in those trolleys I’m afraid.”
Me: “Ah, she’s autistic*.”
Her:
“All good - you do what you need to do.” 😮 🙏
Then 45 minutes later, as we’re checking out, she comes over. Not to tell us off. But to say hi. Ask how we’re going and learn a little more.
Two strangers. Two responses. Two entirely different outcomes.
Same child. Same parents.
One of them made us feel like sh#t. One made us feel seen.
*I say Autistic - Indi doesn’t have a diagnosis yet …. of anything …. so we operate in the grey of not knowing what to say … a topic for another episode.
Sleeping, Experimenting, Surviving
We’ve been testing Indi’s sleep meds again 🤪
For a month now, she’s been going through the night (YESSSSS) but it takes us hours to get her down. So we tried going cold turkey to see if she’d still go through, but settle faster.
The result? A mixed bag (tracked on the indi app obvs).
Some nights, fine. Some nights... Friday night.
A midnight rave. Still up, jumping on my head, stimming away at 4am, her nappy started leaking. I start changing her, half asleep and mid-change she wees all over the bed 🫠. Clean up, an hour later get her down, then 6am, running on fumes, I’m up with the other 2 for swimming.
It was rough. But you know what? This time last year, that was most nights. Now it’s the exception. So we’re in a good place!!!! #grateful
The experiments continue … trialed half dosage last night and it worked … let’s see how the next few nights go!!
The App Is LIVE 📱
Apple said yes. We’re out in the wild.
First clinic onboarding. Four more signed and ready to rock when we are ready to release them. Parents getting their hands on it and feeling the wow.
Still some things to fix/polish before we go really wild - but we’re close.
I’ll share a full walkthrough next episode - but safe to say: I’m proud. If you’ve been following along and want to get on as a genuine user, please actually reach out. I want to help people get on, because:
I care and want to help
Selfishly my role is to be healthily paranoid around the Product - and watching what people do IRL is the best way to see!!
If you want on just to poke around, best to wait until next episode and just watch the video lol - fake vanity user numbers are not what i’m here for.
Final thought: “We’ll see.”
There’s this Taoist proverb I love - about a farmer and a horse.
One day, his horse runs away. The neighbours say, “Oh no, how unlucky!”
The farmer replies, “We’ll see.”
The next day, the horse returns - and brings a wild stallion with it. The neighbours say, “Amazing! What good fortune!”
The farmer says, “We’ll see.”
The farmer’s son tries to tame the wild horse. He’s thrown off and breaks his leg. The neighbours say, “That’s awful!”
The farmer? “We’ll see.”
A week later, soldiers come through the village to conscript young men for war. They skip the farmer’s son - broken leg.
The neighbours: “You’re so lucky!”
Farmer: “We’ll see.”
And so it goes.
The point? You don’t get to know, in the moment, whether something’s good or bad. You just keep going. Stay grounded. Let the meaning reveal itself later - or not at all. Life doesn’t announce whether something is good or bad in the moment. We find out later. Or never.
To put this in language the parents out there will get: Bluey’s final episode (The Sign) nailed it. When Bluey’s parents are thinking about moving and the kids don’t know what’s happening, her teacher, her mum - they just keep saying “We’ll see.” It’s gentle, but powerful. A quiet lesson in sitting with uncertainty. It’s trust. Trust that things unfold. That not everything needs an answer right now. That big choices and big feelings can be met with space, not panic. That sometimes “we’ll see” is the bravest and most honest thing you can say.
And that’s where I’m sitting right now.
Whether it’s the app going live, Indi’s highs and lows, or the daily lottery of how strangers choose to show up - 2026 already feels a lot. Allie’s back in full-time study, with 14 weeks of hospital placements ahead. Could be mornings, nights, weekends - we’ll find out a couple of weeks before each one and adjust as best we can. The kids? Somehow three of them now have four different drop-offs and pick-ups. At this point, we’re not planning the year - we’re just trying to see two weeks ahead. It’s not exactly stable. But it’s built on trust. And that’s enough, for now. Is it good, or bad? We’ll see.
We’ve started the year v.strong. I’m feeling good.
I’m rooted in my values (impact, gratitude and family)
And in the mission (positively impact the lived in experience of 1,000,000 families around the world who need help).
And the rest - We’ll see.
Thanks for riding with me in 2026 - Orrin XOXO
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