Survival mode

Today Jaden got out of the house quickly--do autistic children suddenly get SO impulsive when they are 6?--and I went to the back door and called her. I couldn't see her but I could hear her. She was in the woods behind our house with the puppy. I am so grateful for her lips that are never still. :) I followed the sound and found her deep in the woods, about 50 feet from a busy highway. I called the puppy first, since I knew he would obey better, and then she would follow him. It worked and she came back, all the while apologizing. "Mama, I didn't MEAN to leave without pamission!" "Mama, I so sorry!" She knows she is not supposed to go out alone and yet, several times a day (and lately getting to be more and more often) she goes without thinking.
Reg and I were driving today and he said, "You know, we are just in survival mode. We are not functioning--we are just trying to make it through every day"
Sad but true.