As a special needs parent, we realize that one day we will be gone. More often than not, siblings of our special needs kids are called upon to assume a caretaker role. What can we do today to lessen the burden on them?
Category Archives: Day In And Day Out
Sleepless
I just noticed a not so funny thing about our home. Our routine has changed, our expectations or what can be expected in the nights shortly after we put our kiddos to bed, has changed. In the past, a pitter-patter of feet excitedly ‘sneaking’ across the floor could be heard within minutes of sending our…
Coming Back to the Craziness: Dealing With Subtle Grief
This weekend I left my life of raising special needs kids for 3 days of complete relaxation. I visited my mom in Arizona and enjoyed meals out, sleeping in, and lots of shopping (sans racing from the premises with tantruming 8-year old). It was a delight. But of course all things must end. Including the…
Love Can Build a Bridge Between Your Heart and Mine
What is it about the wheelchair that attracts people? Some times it’s the looks but other times there are full blown conversations with people the randomly say things (not all bad!) My first outing with my son and his wheelchair was to a restuarant. I was meeting a friend for breakfast. We were eating and…
This week, I’m the whiner…
It’s true. And I hate, despise, and abhor being the whiner. I’m busy…like really busy. I home school my 11 year old. I take care of Jack and his daily routine of medications, tube feedings, and breathing treatments. I teach two night classes–one of which has a clinical component. For the next 2 weeks I…
We All Want the Same Things
I attended a gathering of parents with special needs children a couple of nights ago. There are a lot of things stirring in our community that bore discussion, but this phrase, spoken by one of the Dads there stuck in my head. We all want the same things… Our children may be different in various…
You Don’t Know That
Imparting parental wisdom to a child is difficult, but offering advice to those with special needs can be challenging. Using your life experiences, you advise them about possible mistakes. But in their world of absolutes, the response you get from them could be something like … YOU DON’T KNOW THAT.
Summer will happen, if I can get my paperwork done
With spring comes the cleaning. Moving through closets, changing out clothes, making the donation pile, giving your kiddos the spray bottle and a cloth to clean whatever windows they can reach (a great way entertain them too). But it’s also the time for more paperwork. For our family, this means we’re looking at summer programs,…
Staying Sane While Raising a Bipolar Child
She stomps out of the room, each firmly-planted step shaking the floor. Tear-stained, she plunges her face into the pillows on her bed, where she screams and cries. As she starts to calm down, I feel the adrenaline retreating into the places from which it flooded my body. Breathing, relaxing myself, I tend to her…
Back to the Basics of Mothering..
Arizona’s scorching heat returned the end of this week, and because both my daughters’ have metabolic energy issues, and the school week was extra busy.. this made for very grumpy girls. Being hot makes us all a little grumpier, but for my girls when their bodies are truly out of fuel- it can reach a…