Posted on

Help me get it right.

Before you read this post, go read this one by my new friend Jeannett.  It’s about her daughter Jill,  and it’s the inspiration for what I’m about to say.

Ok, are you back?  Did you need to go get a tissue? (Or don’t you have a soul!?)

One thing that my whole experience with Sophie’s developmental delays has brought to my life is a sensitivity for people with disabilities, and their families. Especially their moms.  Seeing your kid looked at as “different” is hard.  Sophie only got weird looks because of sometimes-crazy behavior, as she is phyiscally “normal”.  And that was bad enough.  To watch the gawking or ignoring that kids and adults with obvious physical disabilities endure is very unsettling.  To be a parent or loved one having to watch your kid get gawked at?  I truly cannot imagine.

Because Sophie used to see kids with all kinds of disabilities at her therapy clinics or at her school, she treats a kid in a wheelchair or walker, or a child with Down Syndrome the same as all her other friends.  It’s awesome to watch. There was a girl at school and a boy at OT that she especially like to keep tabs on. I can only hope she doesn’t lose that as she continues on to “regular” kindergarten.  I know, as an adult, that I KNOW BETTER, and I know that I need to teach my children early to KNOW BETTER and to DO BETTER.  Sophie’s got it, but I need to teach my boys.  To be the one that treats everyone with kindness and respect.  To look someone in the eye. To smile.  To hold a door, or a conversation, whether that person is in a wheelchair, on a walker, has a mental disability, or whatever.

I love my kids. I love them just the way they are.  They are mine.  And you know what? If Sophie’s delays hadn’t been temporary, she would still be my amazing, wonderful, rock-star daughter.  I never wanted her to be anything different than what God made her to be.  And I wouldn’t want to be treated as if either a) she didn’t exist or b) she should be avoided like the plague or c) I should be pitied because of my poor, disabled child.

Would you ?

Tell me, if you have a disability, or your child or loved one does, or you’ve worked with people with disabilities, what do you want us “typicals” out there to know and do?  Help us get it right.  Let’s learn together how to love one another better.

 

Post to Twitter

Posted on

Til Senility Do Us Part

So, this week something very special happened.  That Emily and I totally forgot about and remembered later. Because like many couples, although we LOVE each other, sometimes we let life get in the way and forget to stop and smell THE FACT THAT IT’S OUR FIVE YEAR BLOG ANNIVERSARY!

I’d been thinking about this upcoming event for awhile, and was reminded of it last week when Jill posted that it was her five-year blogiversary a couple weeks ago, because we started blogging at virtually the same time.  I thought, “We should do something really awesome like have a huge giveaway or throw a party or something like that.”

But instead, we just…forgot.

Emily BETTER be whittling me that chicken, is all I have to say. (Is a Bloggess reference. Go read. Then come back here and thank us.)

But anyway.  We forgot our blogiversary.

Oops.

Hey, guess what??? We’ve been blogging for FIVE YEARS!! Isn’t that crazy? When we started this blog, we had only three kids between us, and now we have five.  We were both in our twenties and now we’re clearly practically in an old folks’ home.  We’d never been to a blog conference and didn’t know what Twitter was.  We had old appliances and outdated kitchens and our wardrobes were not made up entirely of Lands’ End.  And we certainly never dreamed that so many of you would care about our successes, our failures, our clothes, our kids, our jobs, our pets, or our kids’ poop.  Ok, so most of you don’t care about that last one (but I know a couple of you do! I KNOW IT!)

Thanks for sticking with us all this time. Especially through this really anti-climactic five-year blogiversary post.  Emily and I love doing this together, but what REALLY makes us grin is getting comments from you, you, YOU!  We love the feedback and interaction with you guys.  We hope you’ll stick with us for at LEAST five more years…aren’t you dying to see if we can even remember our own NAMES in five years!?  The odd aren’t great…

Thanks for five great years, you guys.  We love you. Fer realzies.

(We’d also love it if one of you sent us a wooden replica of Beyonce’ the metal chicken.  Just sayin’.)

 

Post to Twitter

Posted on

Lands’ End – It’s In the Bag

How many of you are headed to the beach this summer?

Yeah, me neither. I’m rather depressed about it. But that will not stop me from getting some relaxation in where I can – and to me there is nothing, nothing, more relaxing than laying on the beach (or just in the sun pretending to be on the beach) with a good book.

Lands’ End encouraging women to think about what’s in their beach bags. They have partnered with Random House and New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer to offer women the best in beach essentials – including a Nancy’s new book and great totes to carry it all.

I have my bag packed and ready to go. To the pool. But that’ll do!

Lands’ End has everything you need for your beach bag (including the bag itself!) – even Lands’ End nail polish by Zoya. For real. Lands’ End nail polish. Kate is currently sporting the “Tracie” color (green), in support of her swim team The Gators. Check out the Lands’ End webpage. You can also win a ready-for-the-beach bag filled with fun stuff at iVillage.

In addition to books and beach towels, this year I’ve added something new to my beach bag – a sun hat. For years my scalp has gotten sunburned over and over again, and I’ve finally decided to try to prevent that from happening. So, hat it is!

What’s in YOUR beach bag?

Post to Twitter