Category Archives: Holidays

Christmas Wonder for My Kids with Down Syndrome

This year, like the past seven, we’d been telling my live-in-the-moment Boys (identical twins with Down syndrome) for weeks that Santa Claus would soon be paying us a visit and leaving toys under Christmas trees all around the world for good little girls and boys in honor of Jesus’ birthday. “Why?” Because Jesus is all…

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Attitude Adjustment

Happy November, Friends! (How did this happen? Wasn’t it just January?) The past few months have been sort of rough for us. For some reason, it seems like everything we’ve done, or tried to do, went horribly wrong. When things don’t go the way I envision them, I tend to get–shall we say–moody? Maybe not…

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Interdependence

I need community, and family, and far away friends. I know it isn’t always perfect. It is really easy to get sucked into the divisive drama that pervades our society, but I’m learning that as much as I want to do it all on my own, there is just no way I’m going to make it on that basis.

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Ready for Summer?

I haven’t signed them up for any classes yet. I keep saying I need to get a calendar out and start marking possible road trip dates…so why don’t I just get it over with and do it?

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Love is…

Love is…   Love is… a choice. Love is… knowing that without them, life would be empty and cold. Love is… sharing tears. Love is…worth fighting for. Love is…a knowing glance across a room. Love is… hurting for someone else. Love is… a familiar smell. Love is… something that is so easily tossed aside when…

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Holiday Carols Were Not Written for Us

I have to tell you, I am a huge sucker for holiday music. I love hearing it while I shop in the grocery and when I’m in the car. I dream of falling snow flakes and cozy fires. I actually know all the verses of many traditional hymns and get mad when artists don’t sing…

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Santa Visit

Usually some friend invites us to a Santa event sponsored by their employer or business and we go to that. We didn’t get any invitations this year, so I figured we could just not mention it and move along. Not so fast there. The child insisted that we needed to go – all of us – to see Santa and make sure he knew which presents to bring.

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Mom Hair

I am, not by a long shot, a fashion maven. Most days, I rock the t-shirt and jeans look.Some days, I’m lucky if I get to wash my face (showering is clearly not happening on a daily basis!). Up until recently, I haven’t cared how I look (seriously, I tried to water down mascara that…

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Giving and Receiving

I know I will love it no matter what it is, because it will be from the child, her way of telling me, “I love you, Mama.”

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What Really Matters

I don’t know about all of you, but I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed again. Thanksgiving went better than could ever be expected, and throughout the weeks leading up to it and immediately after, I held everything else at arm’s length. I have never been a “Black Friday” participant, and this year more than ever we’re…

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