I remember my father once telling me, “It’s dangerous to live.” What he meant was that life is full of risks and dangers and that if we are constantly worried about those risks and dangers, then we’re not really living. I’ve often recounted this quote whenever a therapist overplayed the safety card with Ben—you know,…
August is Special Needs Parents Appreciation Month. My friend and fellow dedicated mother, Sandra Peoples, founded this 31 day observance in 2015. And while her intentions were noble, there are sadly some in the adult disability community who roll their eyes at this annual observance. They regard such a celebration as public martyrdom and contend…
Posted by Reggie Joiner | Hannah is our first-born daughter, and she has a lot of leadership potential. That’s just another way of saying that she challenged the process a lot growing up in our house. I distinctively remember having a conversation with her one night when I was tucking her into bed. It was…
The transition from summertime to back-to-school can happen so quickly that we’re already in our new routine before we even realize it. Below are some suggestions for how to create an intentional and meaningful back-to-school rhythm for a kid in each phase. Preschool: BacktoSchoolRhythm_Pre_single Elementary: BacktoSchoolRhythm_Elem_single Middle School: BacktoSchoolRhythm_MS_single High School: BacktoSchoolRhythm_HS_single
Having a child with a disability can be difficult. There are moments you wonder if anyone will ever understand or get what it is like to walk in your shoes. You parent a child with special needs and sometimes you feel alone and invisible. But you are not. Today, I want to tell you that…
This is for the family whose life is not as they expected it would be. It’s for the family: who may seem normal from the outside, but on the inside is hurting, lonely, exhausted, confused, stressed, and unsure of the future. who lives on eggshells in their home, trying their best to parent a child…
Rhythm in your home actually shapes your family values. Think about it. It establishes what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. The rhythm in your home determines what gets talked about and what doesn’t get talked about. What we are inviting you to do is to become more intentional about making the rhythm in…
Posted by Sarah Anderson | (This is part 3 in our 4 part series, Making The Most Of Your Family’s Daily Rhythm. Click to read part 1, Morning Time, and part 2, Drive Time.) I hit the jackpot when I got married. My husband can cook—not only is he able, he’s good. On our first anniversary, he recreated the…
Once upon a time, in a tiny country church, a handsome man married a beautiful woman. The handsome man and the beautiful woman had three lovely daughters and a charming son. They were a healthy, loving family and could have lived happily ever after in their own little house, in their own little world. But…
When your child is little, everyone tells you, “They grow up so fast!” I recall feeling quite the opposite when my children were tiny. Despite my best efforts, I felt disorganized, inadequate, and like I was walking through a mine field trying to manage my children’s medical challenges. It felt anything but fast. Emergency room…