I do think about it a lot though, so that counts right? There are moments I think of a great blog idea and then I'm immediately distracted by a flying Woody doll or someone trying to streak through the house naked. Most ideas just can't compete with a foggy mom brain.
The other day I was reading through a few Facebook pages I follow. Lots of parents were feeling burnt out, looking for help and hope.
I think the theme fits the season, with the holidays and interrupted routines, it's natural to feel stretched thin. And these aren't just special needs families I was reading about.
Each family has their own struggles to face.
A few months ago I was able to attend a breastfeeding training conference for work. During that time I got to meet so many great women. There were women working for WIC who had been young mothers themselves, a county nurse who made home visits for low income families, a pediatrician hoping to learn ways to help her patient's families, a midwife training for her lactation certification.
What struck me about all of these wonderful women is that every one of them described motherhood as hard. All of them felt the pressure from trying to juggle all that was on their plates.
I thought to myself,
"It's not just me! I'm not crazy!"
It got me to thinking about my little community, family and friends who help support us each in their own ways. People who help me feel less crazy (sometimes).
Over time our support community has grown as much as we have as a family. Family and friends have had to learn out how to help us just as much as we had to learn how to help ourselves and the boys.
Our village is always evolving, always improving and I am so very grateful.
Everyone has their own way of being supportive. In-laws that help out with watching the boys, my mom helps clean our house and bring us dinners already made. My sisters listen to me vent, other autism mamas make me laugh and let me cry, family and friends that will talk about Serial for days (if you haven't listened to the Serial podcast, consider it an assignment and get back to me), teachers and therapists who cry with you when your child utters a hard won word or draws an image of a cartoon character for the first time. Aunts that email articles about autism, family that mention a sensory toy they heard about, friends who ask how the boys are doing and really want to know.
All these people help, these seemingly minor actions collectively add up. It feels like a big hug sometimes, just when I need it. I think a lot of of the time people just want to be acknowledged in order to feel supported. They just want to feel like someone is saying
"Hey, I see you, I feel you and I'm here for you".
And that can really happen in so many ways.
What I'm starting to realize is that not a lot of people in our position have the support we do. Lots of special needs families end up isolated, without a safety net of people who care for them.
We really are fortunate to have all of you wonderful people in our lives. I'm consistently reminded of your love and support.
I wanted the last post for 2014 to be a thank you to those in our village who help and support us in big and small ways. With out you guys, this gig would be a lot tougher.
Thank you and I wish you all a happy and healthy new year.
