EVERY MOMent COUNTS!
by Cindi Ferrini A recent visit with a dear friend was highlighted with the phrase, “I can’t say this to too many people.” Our hearts shared openly, knowing we’re on the same team, accept each other, and “get it!” Becoming aware of the life of a parent/caregiver is as important as understanding “special needs” and [...]
“Nothing’s wrong!” So says my daughter’s voice, but her body language betrays her. Something about the glaring, stomping, creased-forehead, teary look tips me off. Rapid meltdowns are nothing new for this child. Like many children who spent early childhood in an orphanage, her emotional development lags behind kids who spent those years in a nurturing [...]
“How come everyone is all excited when she finishes her math book, but nobody cares when I finish mine?” My son, age 11, struggled to get the words out, tears brimming and voice trembling. My heart hurt. Because he was right. Not that nobody cared, but that we didn’t celebrate his accomplishments the same as [...]
Romance is in the air—at least according to the grocery store isle. Valentine’s candy and gifts fill every available space. So, I’ve been contemplating: What is romance? My following conclusion might not be what you’d expect, but perhaps I have found the greatest romance of all. When Rachel was little, she had frequent fits. Not [...]
“And that is how he proposed to her. Can you believe he knew six years before that he was going to marry her?” “How did he know?” “I don’t know. God must have told him.” Answering our youngest son’s question, my husband wraps up his story about a young couple we know and their amazingly [...]
When out with Rachel, my daughter with autism, I’ve been stared at and judged more times than I can count. She has stripped naked in public, held screaming tantrums, had huge tangles in her hair, spoken too loud in a quiet place, and exhibited a host of other behaviors some people think their children would never do. [...]
While attending a continuing education session for my speech-language pathology license, I was struck by how intimately the divine hand of God works in all things, especially Rachel’s life. Almost 20 years ago, I fell onto my face in a little Bible study group and busted out the ugly cry, telling them, “I don’t know [...]
“Excuse me, but your daughter’s foot fell off,” the Sunday school teacher leaned over the row of seats and whispered in my husband’s ear. Sometimes having a child with special needs makes you cry. But sometimes you better be able to laugh, too! My daughter is 12 years old, blonde (the kind of blonde some [...]
Fear came to live at my house this week. Not irrational fear, but reasonable, understandable fear. My son, like so many children, has a form of asthma. Normally it is very well-controlled, and we hardly think twice about the regular inhaler he has used two puffs, twice a day, for going on 10 years now. [...]
“There’s no such thing as special needs children. All children are special, and they all have needs.” I stared at the screen, re-reading the statement above in an online forum. Really? That was several years ago. At that time, I thought about the months I survived on, at most, four hours of sleep per night [...]
