Special Words for Special Needs ~ Sometimes a pat on the back feels real good!
2:28 AM, Mar. 19, 2007
This past week was a hectic one. The theme of the week was, "Playing cabbie for your social butterfly daughter." Almost every day saw us loading up the car and traveling off to another activity.
I remember times when our daughter was younger and I would cry myself to sleep wondering if she would ever have a type of 'normal life' like other kids. Would she have friends? Would she have hobbies? Would she be able to just hang out with others and have fun? I know that these things seem silly now, but then they seemed so far away.
This past week our daughter had art lessons, Hapkido class, crafts class, she sang at a spring banquet; and she went to a St. Patrick's Day party. A week filled with friends, hobbies and hanging out. So much for my night time tears!
Now for the pat on the back. I met a few of the folks from our school district's Special Education department when I took our daughter to the Saint Patrick's Day party. They had not seen our daughter since we had taken her out of school years ago, and they were impressed at "what a wonderful young lady" our daughter has become. One of the women told me that bringing our daughter home was the best thing we could have done for her! She complimented our daughter's social and reading skills. Both my daughter and I just beamed with pride. It felt real good, let me tell you! All those trying days when I thought that nothing was getting through, and the days when I actually thought we were going backward faded to nothing.
Yes, there were nights I cried, and yes there were days when I felt like pulling my hair out. But that moment standing next to a 'wonderful young lady' in a shamrock and green crepe paper decorated hall was one of the best ever! What a great, tiring, blessed week we both had!
Remember to laugh-
Janice
Janice is the homeschool mother to a 16 year old daughter with Down syndrome and a 15 year old son with ADHD. This is the family's 10th year of homeschooling!
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