These are words that I hear often. Actually, these are words that I would say to myself when I would see a mom with a child with special needs. Then I had Nichole.
It is not harder to parent Nichole. Really, having a child with Down syndrome does not make my parenting harder, more difficult, or less enjoyable. There are things that are different, but "different" and "harder" are not synonymous words. Sometimes things are harder with Nichole, and some other things are harder with Ellie, it has more to do with specific situations and many times personalities.
Then there is Nina with Cerebral Palsy. She is not harder to parent either. She is actually a very sweet little girl. She wants one thing and one thing only, and that is to please Andy and I.
Today, however, I discovered that there is something hard about parenting Nina. Wait a second, let me scratch that. What I discovered is that parenting Nina is heavy! We got her walker today and that thing really is heavy! Lugging it around requires some muscle! She is only 26 pounds thankfully, but she is going to grow and get heavier. When we graduate to a wheelchair as opposed to the stroller those things are heavy too!
So, I decided I am going to get ripped (yeah, if you know me go ahead and laugh, the mental picture of a muscular and strong me also sends me into a giggle frenzy.) Seriously, I have never been too motivated to exercise, but today I though, "I need some muscles here! And here...and here too"
Stronger, my kids will make me stronger. Take it figuratively or literally, both ways apply.
So in light of my post, I shall go and take a nap ;)
they do make us sooo much stronger!!!!
ReplyDeleteMy biceps are ripped from lugging Anna around! Not to mention my legs and glutes from the number of times I climb the stairs w/ 26 lbs. in my arms =)
ReplyDeleteMy Mom got a lot stronger when my Dad was living in a wheelchair. She had to lift the wheelchair in and out of the car every time they went somewhere. If she can do it you can too!
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