This week is my daughter’s 16th birthday. We aren’t going to be helping her study for her driver’s permit. Nor are we having a big party, complete with fancy dress and a hair and makeup appointment, like many other girls in our area have when they reach this momentous age. We aren’t even throwing a little dinner like we did when her brother hit 16, because last year when we … [Read more...]
How My Daughter’s Love of Princesses Help Us Connect Beyond Her Special Needs
From my earliest memory, I have had a deep passion for all things pink, sparkly, and shiny. But I was born to parents who never fully appreciated nor indulged my girlish ways, which is my proof that God has a great sense of humor. My mother and father had the insane idea that my sisters and I should grow up feeling that we were more than just pretty objects to be taken … [Read more...]
Please Don’t Call Me a Saint Because My Daughter has Special Needs
“Kathy you’re a saint.” My head snapped up to find my sister’s friend Amy giving me a look that was mixed with awe, pity, and kindness. I was in the middle of helping my then seven-year-old daughter, who has significant special needs, butter her roll while we ate lunch at my nephew’s christening. Lizzy looked adorable in her new pink dress from the American Girl … [Read more...]
Five Tools to Help Special Needs Parents Through the School Years
As the new school year begins and I watch my youngest kids enter grades 9 and 7 and my oldest start his first year in college, I can’t help but think of all of the moms and dads with children entering kindergarten. My heart goes out to you if you’re the parent of child who doesn’t fit the “typical” mold. Perhaps your kid has dyslexia, like our oldest, or they struggle with … [Read more...]
The Way My Special Daughter Told Me She Loves Me
Today I was struggling to figure out what to write, and I fell back on a typical strategy, I begged my kids for suggestions. My 15-year-old daughter -- whose significant special needs make communication very challenging -- looked up at me with her big brown eyes and said I should write that she loves me. “Mom, that’s so sweet. You should do that. You should write the piece … [Read more...]
