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Report Card for Superheroes #specialneeds
Congratulations. Give yourself a massive high five. A hug, a pat on the back. You made it. You are superheroes. You deserve an A plus on the only report card that matters. You did it. Another school year down. Another grade gone by. You didn’t break. You deserve A pluses in every subject. Superheroes look like this: You are all heroic. Building exceptional kids with extra human strengths. Your kids are Iron Man and Wonder Woman, Spiderman and Black Widow. They are superheroes. I know them well. Two of the biggest superheroes I know are living here in this house. They have extraordinary powers and strength. They are learning to be resilient and…
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Growing Pains and Grace Notes – Raising A Daughter
Look away if you aren’t the kind of person who likes sentiment. It’s been a long time since I posted one of these stories about my life, my kids, snapshots of us, the Growing Pains and grace notes inside the nutty every day chaos of parenting, and growing youth, not kids, not toddlers, young adolescents. My girls amaze me more than they know most days. Their strength is apparent to me, their Mom, and yet they very often don’t see it themselves. Some strange warped tween and teen girl mirror only lets them see first the tiny little mistakes, then the itty bitty fleeting things that are but a milli-second in the course of…
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Ten Cutest Gifts for Dads and Grads #LoveHallmarkCA #giveaways
It’s June already and that means chaos. I’m not overstating that one little bit. If you are a parent then you know June is gorgeous and it heralds summer and Father’s Day and graduation. But June you saucy little month you…you also bring a million other things that toss life into complete disarray. You are my Love/Hate month. I know I’m not alone. June is madness. So here’s a little help. PREPARE NOW for the gifting season with these recommendations for Dad and Grad gifts. June is beautiful weather and winding down for summer at school. It is paying for and sometimes attending the field trips with kids despite an…
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I Vote For Special Needs Travel #travel
One of the things I love most about travel is that travel is different things to different people and it is what you need it to be. It is slow, or fast, or multigenerational or empty nest, or foodie, or adventure. It can also be special needs travel. There are as many ways to travel as there are travellers. This month I am joining 30 other travel bloggers to celebrate all kinds of travel. It’s my second year doing this travel blogger series. You can read each of the amazing posts about travel on wordtraveling.com. Special Needs Travel My daughter, 4, boomerangs up and down the stairs to a waterslide…
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When Hard Doesn’t Break – Special Needs Parents
Maybe your child has curly hair, or is slightly unique in some other tiny way. Small genetic blessings that somehow will turn to a source of pride. Over time. Maybe you think that parenting is hard, but your hard is a moment. Your hard is a glass of wine, some retail therapy, girl’s night out, and then you move on. Your hard breaks. There’s nothing heartbreakingly extraordinary that impacts the way your child moves throughout their Mondays, or Fridays – the way they approach their school day, year to year. Just a kid, potentially a great kid, maybe even an A student, going about their life sometimes trying new and fun things, succeeding,…
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Managing Your Child’s Kik Account
If you have a tween or teen, chances are good their phones have a KIK account. KIK is a third party messaging app, that allows users to send texts and pictures outside of their phone’s native messaging system. One of the many problems with a KIK account is that it’s difficult to track messaging by normal means. It is a private texting app that, in my opinion, is not extremely necessary if messaging and texting via the usual channels. What is a KIK Account KIK is an app that allows texting and photo sharing outside of a phone’s stock messaging apparatus. That means that normal means of looking at texts is out…
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Why Chrissy Teigen’s Gender Selection Choice is None of Your Business
Chrissy Teigen has been in the news a lot this past week for telling the world she had a girl embryo transferred after her infertility struggle and her in vitro fertilization treatment. Shortly after she made that seemingly off the cuff statement about her gender selection choice, the conversation deteriorated rapidly on line into something that bordered on bullying and was anything but supportive of someone’s infertility journey. That left me feeling a bit sick. You are maybe wondering why I should care. I don’t know Chrissy Teigen. I am not her cheering section, her publicist, her BAE, or her long lost cousin. She’s a celebrity after all, married to a famous…
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Flying Solo – When Is It Okay to Leave The Kids at Home Alone?
Flying solo. It’s a terrifying thought for many moms. The thought of our kids home alone with no adult supervision is frightening, but it has to be done at some point. At a certain age, we parents have to put enough trust in our kids to allow them to go it alone for short periods. But when is flying solo an appropriate option? Flying Solo Requires Responsibility and Trust Knowing when it’s time to let the kids stay at home a lone is a pure judgement call. It relies on many factors including how responsible your children are, how trustworthy they are, and their ability to follow the rules…
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The Sleep Belt Review – Christina Knows Best Video
It’s time for your monthly dose of hilarity and new Mom hijinks brought to you by me, and that funny lady Christina. So what’s new now that Christina’s baby is four months? Well apparently there’s more pooping and a little bit of fussing according to her. I have heard that you all think Christina is a hoot and a half so share the love and let her know below with a comment or two. This week she’s sharing a Sleep Belt review. Of course you can learn a bit more about my awesome new contributor Christina here. You can follow her on Twitter and Youtube. I think she’s fabulous. Plus this…
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2015 Family Travel Reflections: Or That Time I Found Myself Crying as We Set Sail #travel
I am standing on the deck of a massive cruise ship tearing up when I realize 2015 might have been more challenging than I ever admitted. Sometimes this family has to stop, drop everything and hop on a cruise ship, or visit an island resort. Family travel is as crucial to us as getting the flu shot, or getting vaccinations, or filling the fridge with food. I know every parent has moments and most parents also deserve a big fat vacation occasionally. Parenting is hard work and when you have a job outside of that, it is also exhausting. Now add demands of special needs parenting to that equation. Together that formula is…