On a good day, parenting will test the integrity of your character. On a bad day, parenting will test your will to live. Parenting children with trauma histories will cause you to test the integrity of everything and everyone you thought you knew, for the rest of your life.
~J. Skrobisz

Sunday, July 4, 2010

No apologies offered here

Faith Makes things possible said the following in her fourth of July post:
We keep our celebrations pretty low key on purpose. Too much action then we get too much aftermath. Those of you with kids who have special needs know what I'm talking about. We learned the hard way. It can take days to recover from a day of too much excitement. I'm all for prevention.

I couldn't say it better so I'm just going to let her say it for me.

We shoot off fireworks in the street of our neighborhood and then invite our other special needs family friends over to join us. We've done this for many years. It's what works for our kids. It means no toilet issues (because gosh, my kids have toilet issues), it means no crowds (because my kids can't do crowds), it means AC and TV is available just by going inside, it means access to food on the kitchen table, it means unlimited beverages with ice, it means no 45 traffic backlogs. It means items of comfort like stuffed toys, bubbles, MP3 players and pillows and blankies. It means no paybacks for the next two days.

All of that translates into: an enjoyable holiday for Mom and Dad that doesn't cost us more than we bargained for.

This is how my family has to celebrate because this is how my family is. Sometimes I miss seeing the big displays. Sometimes I miss being able to do more with more people. I don't miss those things for long, I've learned that this is just as much fun in its own unique way. I won't apologize for it anymore.

3 comments:

GB's Mom said...

I don't miss the big displays either. Hubby and I stayed home with GB and X. They were already overwhelmed from the Blue Angels and I would rather have them melt here.

~Dinah said...

We do things very similarily....but we always have been pretty low-key.

Hope you had a great celebration!

Linda said...

We've tried too many times to do things others wanted us to do...then in the end we didn't have fun and the next few days are just as bad. Have to do what is best for OUR family even if nobody else gets it. I'm glad my post spoke to you. I often feel like all I do is complain on my blog!