You followed all of the advice. With tenderness and care, you purchased all of the tagless clothes and made the sensory-friendly accommodations. You examined all of the lists for the best Christmas toys for children with special needs. And you made dietary choices that would best suit your child’s restrictions. STILL your holidays aren’t as you expected.
Relatives
Anyone who has taken even a cursory look at Cynthia Rylant’s classic book THE RELATIVES CAME knows the struggle. While we love our relatives to pieces, they each can be so very different from us. Their frame of reference is different, even if we grew up in the same family. Tact can be near absent with their comments, unsolicited advice, sneers, or ignorant questions. They don’t know any better.
I can remember such hurtful statements from each side of our family, “Do you think our sister’s kids have that genetic disorder because she did so many drugs when she was young?” “Well, it’s not like he’s going to die or anything, is it?” “Don’t expect anyone to feel sorry for you,” “Maybe if you fed her less sugar.” The comments go on and on. In fact, the faux pas should just be expected at times when the family is together.
