A parent or caregiver of someone with special needs, needs the ability to bounce back. There was a time we asked each other, “What would it take (not that we want to experience it) for us to hit a breaking point?” We don’t have a list of times we thought we were close, but we do have a few stories that stick with us to help us remember not to quit when things are rough. Here are a few ways we kept mindful of the ability to bounce back.
“Learning to listen isn’t a gift; it’s a skill.” “Anytime is a good time to learn to listen.”
These statements are great places to start in the month of “love” as we share cards, gifts, and time with others. It’s a skill that can be learned and we will be all the better for it. In our family, we are still learning and growing in this area both in our marriage as well as with our grown children, their spouses, the grandchildren, and our son with special needs.
The playground was bustling with laughter and movement, but my boys, then just two and four years old, played in their own quiet way. After a speech therapy session, we stopped at a nearby park, a familiar part of our speech therapy routine when the weather was nice. My older son wandered the perimeter of the playground and discovered sweet gum balls—a spiky green fruit on the gumtree but which dries out and turns brown and drops to the ground.
The lessons I learned while raising a child with EA/TEF have been many and varied. That’s to be expected since our son was born in 1982 with esophageal atresia (EA) and a tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF), two conditions that left him unable to swallow and required immediate surgery. Many of the lessons came about as a result of the surgeries and invasive procedures he endured between birth and age 5. Other lessons came later as he became more independent in adolescence and adulthood. I encourage you to use these ten lessons as a springboard for considering what you’ve learned as well.
Kingdom Focus is what first comes to mind. Those of us who are married and have someone in our life with special needs for whom we have responsibility (often 24/7 and 365!) know that without focus, we are doomed. AND for those of us who are believers in Jesus, we add to that His Kingdom focus and our part in it.
For us, we have 5 top ways to work on our marriage and keep it strong. There are more, of course, but let’s not get overloaded!
Special needs parents already live with a lot of stress and anxiety. But when you add in the extra uncertainty that comes with COVID-19 and what’s going on with back-to-school come the fall, well, it’s possible as parents to go into anxiety overload. But there’s a verse in Isaiah that is very encouraging for all parents during this time of uncertainty regarding your child(ren) and our future.
There are an overabundance of decisions to make in life right now. For many people I know, school decisions are presently giving parents much to ponder. Some parents are admittedly terrified of making the wrong decision for their child. Here are four things that my husband and I do when we are faced with difficult decisions.
The cloth masks we wear to protect against COVID-19 obscure our faces. If people are smiling around me, I cannot tell. As soon as it is safe outside, I rip the facial mask off. I take a deep breath and feel instant relief. My state requires facial coverings while out in public, and I am not sure that I will ever get accustomed to them. But there are some invisible masks I am more than comfortable wearing.
