parenting
Gritty & Grateful Our family was recently featured in the Lino Living Magazine, the locally published magazine focusing on living in our small town. Unfortunately, they do not have a digital presence (and in this day and age when everything is digital, I can’t believe they don’t have a website OR social media presence) so…
We’ve had a couple of rough weeks around my house with some health issues popping up for our adult son who is disabled. He has autism and cerebral palsy, is nonverbal, and now is blind in one eye. Retinal detachment, they think. We’re awaiting appointments to verify this diagnosis. He’s going to be 20 in…
What Worries Me Most About the Future: Jamie functions at 18 – 24 months level. This is a huge topic for me because I am, by nature, a worrier. So there are plenty of things I can find to worry about, to obsess over. From the tiniest thing to the monstrous, I can obsess about…
There are days when I wonder what I’m doing with my life. And truth be told, today is one of those days. Hopefully, my life stretches out for decades more, but what to do with all of that time? Am I doing enough? Do I show up enough for everyone who needs me; do I…
Once upon a time, I was a kid who was strong-willed and bull-headed, two adjectives that were used to describe me frequently. In my parent/teacher conferences, they were told I was talkative and bossy. What can I say? I knew what I and everyone else around me should have been doing and I wasn’t afraid…
Mental Health is Hardest During the Holidays for Some I have the kind of depression and anxiety that doesn’t allow me to stay in bed and sleep when I feel like the world is caving in around me. My anxiety says that if I do that then my kids suffer and my marriage suffers and…
Autism Awareness Month is every day for me April is National Autism Awareness month and while I celebrate Autism Awareness every day, I thought it would be nice to share with all of you what Autism means to my family. My son, Jamie, is almost 16 years old. He was born 5.5 weeks early and…
Let’s talk about sex, baby. I am a firm believer in telling our kids the truth, minus the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and the Tooth Fairy – but that’s a blog for another day. So when my daughter started asking questions at age 5 about where babies came from, we told her just enough to…
I recently had a Mama Meltdown. You know the kind. You’re stressed. You’re under pressure from the day and one tiny little thing just sets you off. For me, it was my adult-sized son pooping in his pants. He didn’t make a huge mess. It certainly could’ve been worse but the code brown, while I…
We are traveling again. Soon, our family of four will be packing up and heading out to a family wedding. This entails us (me) packing for four people, planning the dog’s stay at Grandma’s house while we’re gone, and of course, making all of the travel arrangements. The hubs tries to help, but honestly, he’s…
Why I Limit My Children’s Schedules I met up with a friend of mine the other day and she was so exhausted. She looked completely wiped out and said she was just run down. I couldn’t help but notice that she had bags under her eyes and looked really exhausted. I was and still am…
I have an affinity for this subject, finding oneself. And maybe the reason is that I have felt so lost on so many days of my motherhood that I didn’t know where to go. I didn’t know who to turn to, or what to even say to my husband. I wasn’t sure who I was…
Lately, I’ve just become fed up. Fed up with others telling me how to live my life, and how you should live yours. As moms, we are inundated with “mommy-shamers” who tell us every day we are doing this Mom thing all wrong. It’s my gut instinct to just ignore this unwarranted advice – actually,…
One of my children has special needs. One of my children does not. Ri is completely neurotypical and goes through everything 10-year-old girls do. Because my kids are so developmentally different, I struggle to parent my youngest without losing my patience. I find that with my oldest, Jamie, I have an infinite amount of patience…
Dads of kids with special needs are often forgotten in the special family dynamic. I’m lucky enough to know several fathers of amazing kids with special needs. These dads are the best of the best. They go above and beyond typical parenting. Just like moms of kids with special needs, the dads have extraordinary jobs put…