Caregiving, Challenges, Living Life Daily, Love, Special Needs Parenting
Cindi Ferrini
Counting the Cost

How many of us counted the cost (both emotionally and financially) of what it would take to raise a child and/or care for an aging parent? Many are doing both…Because we love our child, we don’t often consider the cost because we simply do what is needed and want the best for them.

Counting the Cost
Caregiving, Challenges, Down Syndrome, Special Needs Parenting
Evana Sandusky
For When You Don’t Feel Thankful

My daughter arrived in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the middle of the night on the eve of Thanksgiving. A tough respiratory virus attacked her lungs, and she needed a substantial amount of oxygen support. And now, this unexpected illness meant Thanksgiving was going to be completely different than we had all planned.

For When You Don’t Feel Thankful
Challenges, Hope, Scripture, Special Needs Parenting
Kara Dedert
When Thankfulness Seems Impossible

Are you scrounging for thankfulness this holiday season? Holidays can be a challenge for those walking through hard days. Perhaps you feel like you've been handed the short-end of the stick; your child is struggling, you’re exhausted and it seems like everybody else has life with a bit more gravy. It’s easy to focus on our circumstances, take stock of what we have and where we are and end up feeling completely void of thankfulness. Is there a cure for this? 

When Thankfulness Seems Impossible
Autism, Caregiving, Challenges, Hope, Special Needs Parenting, Spiritual Growth
Sunita Theiss
Discovering What God Already Knew About Me, ...

I first suspected I had ADHD as a teenager, but finding the right professional to take me seriously was much harder than I expected. Previous attempts only ended in frustration and tears.

Discovering What God Already Knew About Me, Through My Children’s Diagnosis
Caregiving, Challenges, Living Life Daily
Jolene Philo
Enjoying the Holidays with a Food Allergy

Enjoying the holidays with a food allergy sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it? After all, eating together is an integral component of the holiday season. I looked forward to making our traditional holiday foods until I was diagnosed with a dairy allergy in 2012. What was to enjoy about the holidays when the foods associated with it were off limits to me?

Enjoying the Holidays with a Food Allergy

Montessori

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More Than Just A Parent - Part 2

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More Than Just A Parent - Part 2

Whether at the doctor’s office, with our child’s therapy team, in the classroom for an IEP meeting, many times we are just not considered experts on our children. We are relegated to being just a bystander while the real “experts” make proclamations over our children. While they may be truthful many times, they still don’t define our children totally. It is in those moments that we must step in and be the voice in the gap between the understanding of the experts and the knowing of our hearts, and speak out the value of our kids that only we can communicate as parents.

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More Than Just A Parent

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More Than Just A Parent

We have never forgotten that time when we felt undermined, as parents who couldn’t advocate for their child. You are, in fact, quite the expert on your child. When you face the challenges from educators and others with degrees, certifications, or other credentials, remember that you are more than just a parent, you are everything to your child.