The other night I had a too-real dream of Bridget dying; by drowning. The dream so real, I woke with tears on my face as I hurried to her room to check on her. Me, a person who when asked would claim she never has anxiety and thinks she is cool under any circumstance. Here’s the dream: Continue reading
When you are the parent of a child who has a disability you can feel isolated. You begin to not go out, to not seek friends and scared of judgement. You don’t complain, because you fear people will think you are not a good mom. You try to promote your life as a Hallmark Channel movie and not a Halloween one. Then the holidays come and you are slapped with the face of reality. How to get through the season when you feel so alone and trapped in this unexpected life. Continue reading
Gratitude is “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return a kindness” (Oxford Dictionary).
Gratitude isn’t just being thankful and it returning a kindness. A pay-it-forward moment where not only do you acknowledge someone but you show them what it meant to you. We have lost the art of the thank you card. Now we “like” something or give a shout out on Facebook. It is quick and easy and (honestly) takes no effort.
I hate writing thank you cards. I would rather drop off a bottle of wine (or tequila depending on the friend) and cookies than write out and mail the card. I have tried to instill the art of the thank you card in Abby. To my mother’s dismay I have been completely failed. I have harassed Abby to write thank you notes and it never gets done. I forget to keep on her or I just give up.
Yet that girl never fails to surprise me.
One day I get a text from a friend. Her husband is the janitor at Abby’s school. Abby had left him a thank you note for helping (not her) her friend with a locker issue.
When I asked why if I have been screaming encouraging, her to write her thank you notes from her birthday yet she writes one for this, her reply: He doesn’t have to do nice things for me. People have to give me birthday presents because they love me.
Abby logic for sure.
I fell a little more in love with this daughter of mine that day. That she is paying attention to those who show her kindness and she is willing to show her appreciation.
Abby first day of preschool.
Unbeknownst to me this gorgeous girl has become a thoughtful young lady. One who breaks my heart as often as she mends it.
Gratitude is action. Abby and how she cares for her sister, her friends and even her school janitor? That is gratitude in action.
Kind “wanting and liking to do good things and to bring happiness to others”
I want both of my girls to be kind. I want to be kind yet find myself struggling to bring happiness to others. Anyone who heard me screaming at Abby over the weekend for just once to do something I ask without asking why can attest that I am rarely kind. I am not a model of behavior that I want my children to possess. Continue reading
(Un)Diagnosed and still okay 