Perspective
It's funny what a little perspective can do, isn't it?
I have a friend with a little girl who has a laundry list of special needs. I read homeschool blogs and many, many families homeschool because their kids have some sort of "issue."
While I love, love, love being a parent, dealing with special needs sounds so overwhelming to me and I am not sure I have the heart (or sanity) to handle it - I say this with all humility and grace and love. Watching my friend's daughter go through what she is going through, watching their marriage struggle because of it, watching their little boy watch her, it's more than I can take sometimes. And I'm on the outside!
These families who have the capacity to get through the day and find joy astound me. I am so proud of my friend and have a whole new respect for her. (I'm not talking just ADD or something, I mean debilitating, self-destructive, fits of screaming that last hours kind of a life.) This friend in particular is sparing no expense to get all the help they possibly can to help her, but it's just.....I don't know how she does it.
Don't get me wrong, I love that Kara has a special needs friend. I love the compassion it's teaching her. I love that it's causing her to realize that everyone has something in their life that's hard for them to deal with and it's important to find out what that thing is and help that person deal with it. I have anxiety and Kara is very sweet to help me deal with it. Her little friend has several things that we need to be aware of and she is very sweet to her about them. I'm actually really proud of her for this.
Meanwhile, I can get bummed sometimes that I'm only blessed with one kid. Or that she's growing up and not my cute little baby anymore. Or that dealing with 7 year old hormones and emotions are so much harder than a 3 year old's.
Sometimes, watching people go through their amazing stories can really give you perspective.
Yep, having a child with no special needs is feeling kind of rare these days and I'm feeling pretty blessed this morning.
I have a friend with a little girl who has a laundry list of special needs. I read homeschool blogs and many, many families homeschool because their kids have some sort of "issue."
While I love, love, love being a parent, dealing with special needs sounds so overwhelming to me and I am not sure I have the heart (or sanity) to handle it - I say this with all humility and grace and love. Watching my friend's daughter go through what she is going through, watching their marriage struggle because of it, watching their little boy watch her, it's more than I can take sometimes. And I'm on the outside!
These families who have the capacity to get through the day and find joy astound me. I am so proud of my friend and have a whole new respect for her. (I'm not talking just ADD or something, I mean debilitating, self-destructive, fits of screaming that last hours kind of a life.) This friend in particular is sparing no expense to get all the help they possibly can to help her, but it's just.....I don't know how she does it.
Don't get me wrong, I love that Kara has a special needs friend. I love the compassion it's teaching her. I love that it's causing her to realize that everyone has something in their life that's hard for them to deal with and it's important to find out what that thing is and help that person deal with it. I have anxiety and Kara is very sweet to help me deal with it. Her little friend has several things that we need to be aware of and she is very sweet to her about them. I'm actually really proud of her for this.
Meanwhile, I can get bummed sometimes that I'm only blessed with one kid. Or that she's growing up and not my cute little baby anymore. Or that dealing with 7 year old hormones and emotions are so much harder than a 3 year old's.
Sometimes, watching people go through their amazing stories can really give you perspective.
Yep, having a child with no special needs is feeling kind of rare these days and I'm feeling pretty blessed this morning.
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