It’s the most wonderful time of the year. We’re on the cusp of all things holiday and fun. The festivals. The fairs. The pumpkin patches. And the promise for more parties and holiday spectaculars just around the corner. It’s the kick off to a magical—if not insane—season, made all the more magical—and insane—with kids. Not…
“How do you deal with the possibility that you could be a ‘forever mom,’ that is, that Polly and Evangeline may never leave home?” a young mom asks me after I finish sharing our family’s story with her MOPS group. I get this question often. It makes sense. I have children with special needs. We are…
I can’t help but reflect upon how different our parenting journey was from theirs. Our first child was born in 1982. Hours after our son’s birth when he was diagnosed with a life-threatening birth anomaly, every expectation we had for him and for ourselves as parents crumbled. Other parents were choosing which kind of diapers…
Right now, people seem inscrutable, rhetoric is flammable, the world looks combustible. But these kids of mine, they put everything in perspective. My darling kids, the ones with developing body odor and dirty rooms and expertise in sibling attack strategies a la Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. They are a respite from everything upside down, and is…
I read a blog yesterday from a mother of a child with Down syndrome. “I love my daughter but I’m not ready to celebrate Down syndrome.” I just want to say that I hear you. And I validate you. Sometimes in our special needs circles certain types of people are pushed forward as spokespeople. You’ve…
This fall, ABC debuted a new series about a special-needs family. 7.29 million people tuned in the first week to meet the DiMeo family—Maya (played by Minnie Driver) her husband Jimmy, and their kids JJ, Ray, and Dylan. Show creator Scott Silveri drew from his experiences growing up with an older brother with a disability,…
“I can’t believe that her son is already talking. I’m still struggling to get mine to say his first words!” “Look at that mom taking all of those pictures of her daughter. I haven’t taken a photo in a year. I am such a bad mom.” “Ugh. Look how healthy her kids are eating. I…
We have a legally binding contract in our home stating that if Max keeps his body healthy for the day, he will be rewarded with enough sugar to propel him into several lunar orbits. Yes, I’m telling you unashamedly, this is actually part of what we call our “healthy body program.” My 25 year-old son…
“She ruins everything!” I said to my mom when I was six and my big sister bumped into an art project I’d been working on all day. And again when I was twelve and she wanted to hang out with me and my friends at my slumber party. And again when I was seventeen and she…
I just texted these words to my 23-year old daughter who has autism. “Hi. I haven’t talked to you in a week. How are things?” Katie lives across town in a little house by herself. She loves it. It seems to be working for the whole family, but such a casual interaction with my child seems strange….