What I Want for my Child
It is easy to get caught up in the monotony of the everyday struggles.
The therapies, the meltdowns, sensory issues, working on simple tasks like dressing and potty training while other kids my daughter’s age are going to dance class and mastering writing.
It may seem that my daughter is missing out, that our family is missing out on so many things life has to offer, and sometimes that is true.
When I start to feel overwhelmed or a little sad about what I’m not able to do I stop and think about what I really want for my child. And what I want for her is what all parents want for their children.
For her to be safe, to be able to form and maintain meaningful relationships, to follow a passion, and to enjoy her life. I want her to be happy and to have a positive impact on the world around her.
The journey to get my daughter to this reality looks different from others.
Right now, she has a hard time communicating so we go to speech therapy and constantly work on her communication at home.
She has a hard time playing with friends, so we do play dates and work on her social play skills individually to help her understand how to play.
Her world has been relatively small so far, so we try to expose her to new things to help her understand the world and find her passions.
She gets overwhelmed at large events, so we work on helping her cope with smaller events to build up to the larger ones. She has a hard time showing affection, so we hug her every day and tell her that we love her.
We teach her how to show love to her us and her brothers.
It’s true our days may look different.
There are no dance classes, no chapter books, no sassy remarks to being told to do chores, but just like many homes there is growth, there is happiness, and there is love. There is an eye to the future the drives what we do today.
We love her, we help her, we laugh with her, we teach her to be kind to others, we help her to enjoy her life.
When it comes down to it, no matter what our situation is we are all parents and we must stand together. We must fight for our kids and loved ones, we must sacrifice our time, money, and sanity at times.
We must give more than we have and then find more to give. We are blessed to learn from our kids, to be humbled by then, and stand in awe of them.
We are rewarded with their hugs and kisses, with their sweet smiles and laughter, with those precious little moments, and with the honor of being a part of their journey.
Yes, it can be hard, and yes it will always look different, and yes it is the best thing I could have done with my life.
Isn’t parenthood remarkable?
Written by, Amanda Gray
My name is Amanda and I am the mother of an amazing daughter with autism. I recently started my blog to help other parents through this journey, to help my extended family get to know Ruby, and for myself, to help encourage me to stay intentional with her development. You can follow our journey on my blog Developing Intentionally, and on Facebook or Instagram.
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