I grew up with frequent visits from out-of-town family members with lots of cousins right around my age and I loved it! My cousins and I built hearty relationships, many of which have followed us into adulthood.

This week, one of my close cousins is bringing his two beautiful, neurotypical children for a visit during their Spring Break and I’m terribly excited. It will be so much fun to spend time with my cousin, his wife and those precious kids! I must admit, though, that I’m also significantly anxious about how things will go while they’re here.

While Ethan, who is 8-years-old and lives with Asperger’s Syndrome, loves to have company on his turf, it disturbs his routine. Especially since he’ll be headed off to school each morning while his cousins get to hang out, eat breakfast late, watch TV and play with his toys, I’m a little concerned about how he’s going to manage. I’m also concerned about how distracted he will be during school – knowing that his cousins are having fun while he’s “stuck” at school.

Additionally, kids are so blunt and honest, I know that we’ll probably field a few “Why does Ethan __________?” questions from my cousin’s children. Kids typically aren’t mean about Ethan’s differences; they simply don’t understand and genuinely want to know things like why Ethan hums the same song incessantly over and over and over without noticing that everyone in the room is annoyed and irritated by the repetition. Autism is like that; Ethan may not notice – but neurotypical kids – they notice that he is different. When they ask those innocent but hard-hitting questions, I plan to use it as an opportunity to spread awareness; what they learn with us in the coming week will impact them from here on out!

I won’t lie to you, we’ve done a lot of “prep” work with Ethan for this visit, but I still worry that it won’t be enough…I suppose I still need to work on setting appropriate expectations (in my mind) regarding Ethan (for instance knowing that he WILL have difficulties in the mornings, during the school day and at bedtime) and for myself (I need to allow myself to accept and process whatever emotions flood me during their visit). In reminding myself beforehand that this visit simply isn’t going to be all peaches-n-cream, I think we’ll all be much more likely to have a lovely time together building memories.

Anyone else experience anxiety alongside excitement when you host out-of-town company? Suggestions, hints or tips for handling this with grace and dignity are welcomed and appreciated!

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Leigh Attaway Wilcox is a writer and editor for the projectLD family of companies. Leigh is Assistant Editor of the internationally acclaimed AutismSpot.com and her work can be found on many of the pLDNetworks sites. Leigh is the author of ALL BETTER: A Touch-and-Heal Book published by Piggy Toes Press in 2007. Leigh lives in North Texas with her husband and young son who loves reading, LEGOs, Mario Bros. and also happens to live with Asperger's Syndrome, an Autism Spectrum Disorder.