Moms, this is for you. You are the focus here. No matter who you are, or what your situation is at this time, this blog is written with Mom’s in mind.
I am a Mom and Grandma now. I absolutely love being a Mom and Grandma. However, I know there can be tough, challenging days. So, I hope to keep it real in all of these blogs. You, as a Mom, are invited to explore all the blogs, teachers, mental health professionals, any blog post.
Life can be messy. Life can be a joy and life can be overwhelming. You will not find “advice” here. You will find experiences, ideas, thoughts, suggestions to consider and maybe new ideas you can incorporate The 5 Needs into your daily life with toddlers on up. We each have to find our own way, but we sure can join one another on the journey we call life.
Why come here? Because we all need a place to go, a place to feel welcome, be encouraged, get some bits of information and a place of no judgment.
All I ask, is this: Stay curious. Stay open.
- Let’s be curiousabout The 5 Needs we all share in life. Let’s explore what is going on in life today with schools, homes, friendships, and our true self.
- What’s “Normal” and who cares?
- Come visit here, to just “be” and hopefully find joy and maybe relief.
A personal peek into my world…
If you have a child with special needs, you have special needs too.
We were given a precious gift, a baby boy! He came to us through adoption, another story for another day perhaps. Yes, he came with some special needs, we didn’t even know it at the time, but it did not take long to suspect life was more of a challenge to this little bundle than for most.
My daughters were born naturally to us and had developmentally appropriate growth. This little boy was struggling with life. We began a journey we never anticipated and would not regret. As we began, we learned a great deal about ourselves, sickness we never heard of before and milestones that were missed but hope was not lost.
Yep, we have some stories to tell. Many lessons learned along the way too. (Spoiler alert: my son is now an adult, doing wonderfully, far better than ever predicted or expected). His life’s story so far is amazing, more to come, as he is ready and willing for me to share (I respect his privacy and will clear everything with him first.)
We are still learning and growing. No one is perfect. We all can learn, change, be and become. That is the theme of my life: “Being and Becoming.”
What to expect here: In some of the post we will share lessons, hopes and dreams, some shattered and some came to be in time. Birthdays can be hard for Mom’s with children of special needs, it can hit us right in face that our special son or daughter is not doing what the others are doing, but it can also hit us how far they have come on their own timetable. Life is so good at giving us ups and downs, inside out at times, and gratitude can bring us relief sometimes, sometimes not. Life is a journey.
Sometimes it seems “good turns out to be bad” when things go in a different direction and we also need to learn, “bad can turn out to be good.” We can learn to judge ourselves and situations less and we can find our center, we can get through it all, the good, the difficult and the fun too.
We do need to find those who can hold our hands and hearts, those we can share our truths with, even when they are dark and hurt. This may be a professional at times, friends, family, supports are all around us. We just need to be open, aware and alert, then willing to take the risk and stay tuned into our hearts.
I hope you can find a safe place here, to come be refreshed, maybe laugh a bit, cry sometimes and know you are not alone. Others are there now, some have been there, there is always HOPE.
So, what can you expect to find here:
- In this blog I want to beauthentic with you, vulnerable with you and hope to inspire and encourage you. No one is an island.
- I believe being a Mom is a special gift in my life.There are many kinds of Mom’s, many styles, many choices we all make. You alone get to make these choices. We may make different choices, but we are all focused on what’s best for our children.
- There is no judgementhere, no condemnation, just support, encouragement, ideas and thoughts based on my (and others) experiences.
- I believe, all children are precious gifts.No matter what.
- I know, all children want and need to be loved,accepted, held, talked with, laughed with, and of course, all the basic needs in life fulfilled. Sometimes we need help. That is okay. Help is out there.
- I want every mom to know youare not alone. Although we do not provide therapy services and nothing on this site is intended for therapy, there are many places you can go for support of different kinds. Go and get it.
- Attachmentis a big deal, what we do matters. How we heal our own hurts matters and will impact what we can and cannot do for our little ones. Please get professional help if you even suspect you may need that type of helping hand. Your children will thank you! So will your grandchildren.
- You, Mom, are a gift to your children.You are the best teacher, the best example of how to live life, the first example of love, so it is important you meet your own needs. This blog will helpfully support you in doing that very thing.
My hope is that this blog may inspire you and encourage you.
We’ve got this! Let’s do it.
Remember, we are here, but we are limited in our services. This blog is intended for educational purposes only. This is not intended for “advice” or any form of therapeutic intervention. Please call your doctor if you have concerns and worries.
Feel free to send ideas and suggestions to: wendy@the5needs.com
