Our family loves Halloween-the decorations, the spooky factor, the costumes, and for the kids-the candy! The ultimate culmination of Halloween is trick or treating. My husband and I are both wheelchair users and we don’t live in a neighborhood with sidewalks. Even if we did though, most porches would make it impossible for us to […]
wheelchair
It’s Back-to-School for Us
Okay, so I know I haven’t written in a while, but I’m sure we’ve all been busy parents. Back to school this year was a little different. Last year, we tried online public school at the beginning of Kindergarten. It was a good program, but it didn’t work out for us. This year, we took […]
Donuts with Dad
One of the benefits of living in our community is access to the most delicious treats-less than a quarter of a mile away. Sweet Sinsations is a bakery that my kids and I affectionately call, “the donut shop”. Since we have discovered this tasty palace of desserts, we have been hooked and keep on coming […]
Making it Work: Caring for an Infant as a Mom with SMA
I certainly thought I knew myself as a parent, before I was one (ha!), better than I did. This has by far been the greatest, best, most difficult and even most anxious time of my life as a settle in. My current anxiety is about Gia becoming mobile. I already have help and am never […]
Unique…Like Any Other Mother
I tend to not sugar coat things. I have that sass that can be blunt and I get stuck in my head a lot by thinking out every detail. I write to share this because I know I’m not the only parent experiencing life with a disability, and because I’ve realized how ignorant our society […]
The Truth About the Short Bus
Now that I have a little boy getting ready to start kindergarten, I’ve already been thinking about the school bus. He’s fascinated by large vehicles and wants nothing more than to ride the school bus to kindergarten. He loves “The Wheels on the Bus” song and book. I’m pretty sure the day will quickly come […]
Diving in, Wheelchair First
Dreaming of becoming a parent chooses you. You don’t get to choose the journey. With Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) and using a power wheelchair while requiring care for my basic needs, many would think being a parent wouldn’t be a dream I’d have, let alone pursue. I am a mother to a nearly 5 month-old […]
A Tale of Toilets: Happy Unbirthday to You!
The other night my husband and I took my 98-year-old grandmother out to dinner with our two young children. My son, age 4, seems to always need to use the restroom. Seriously – his record is 5 pitstops in one meal! Anyway, this was a small Mexican restaurant with a single use bathroom. We were […]
Breastfeeding in Public: To Cover or Not to Cover?
Recently there was a news story about a coffee shop in our city that had come under fire after a barista (who turned out to be one of the owners) offered a female patron who was breastfeeding a towel to cover up. Another woman who was with the mother wrote a scathing review on […]
It’s Okay To Think About Surrendering
I know this is a taboo subject when it comes to parenting, or any issue in the disabled world. We are supposed to be inspiring to others, overcoming “challenging feats” and all that jazz. We are supposed to smile and be grateful to be alive, no matter our circumstances. It’s hard for me to admit […]