This weekend, I visited a relative who may or may not be my sister, and I pretty much felt like I could smack her. She started it! She started it! (To quote an oft-repeated refrain from childhood.) She kept stressing out. First, she got irritated at her husband because he was in the kitchen preparing…
Category Archives: Cerebral Palsy
When’s the last time you were away from the kids?
I got to attend BlogHer this weekend, and it was absolutely amazing. I got to hang with women I’ve only known online, including fellow 5 Minutes for Special Needs blogger Janis, Jean from Stimeyland and Julia Roberts from Support Special Needs. I went to great sessions. I met a hot New York City fireman, who…
Oopsie! Forgot to have a life
Last night, at 10:10 p.m., I stood in front of my bathroom mirror and plucked my brows. There were a lot of scraggly hairs, as I haven’t gotten around to doing this for a while, and I found it kind of zen to tweeze away. But as I stood there peering at my reflection, it…
Oh, happy day
Here’s Max looking woeful as we were driving off a ferry yesterday. It was the first time we ever took the car on a boat, and we weren’t sure how he’d respond. Sometimes, he wigs out in new situations. But, no: Max looooooved it. So much so he wanted to stay on the boat. I…
“Oh, he’s so precious!”
That’s exactly how someone recently described Max. Who is 7 years old. I know she meant well, but it seemed really derogatory to me. It’s something you’d say about a baby, not a boy. Max may seem younger than his years—because he can’t quite talk, because he is actually small and because he still has…
How has having a kid with special needs changed your personality?
When we were in the NICU with Max, following the stroke he had at birth, there was a Debbie Downer doctor we had to deal with. One day, I got into a bit of a personal conversation with her. “I feel like this is going to change my whole personality,” I said. “It will,” she…
Didn’t your mama tell you that staring is rude? (Part 2)
I’ve written before about how unsettling it is to me when adults stare at Max. Well, here’s what’s even more unsettling: When kids stare blatantly at Max—I mean, just plain gawk—and their parents don’t say a word. We were on vacation all last week, and it kept happening. While we were at dinner, and kids…
Where do you go on summer vacation?
Before I had kids, I loved planning trips almost as much as liked going on them. Researching places, hotels and things to do were all part of the thrill. Now that we have kids, summer vacations are a whole other kind of fun, and there’s a lot less planning. That’s because Max is most comfortable…
Other kids’ birthday parties: bah, humbug
We went to the birthday part of a friend’s kid this weekend. It was at a gym. Max had a great time at his sister Sabrina’s gym party, so I was hoping he’d like this, too. Only Max had his own ideas. He didn’t want to follow what all the other kids were doing. First,…
Whoa! Even More Special Needs Mommy Confessions
You know, just in case you hadn’t gotten enough confessions the last time. • I’ll let Max get away with stuff—like having three chocolate ice-creams in a row—because I feel sorry for him. As if having all that ice-cream will somehow make up for the fact that he has cerebral palsy. • I’d like to program…