We attended the Lamb's Farm Buddy Walk yesterday. Lamb's Farm is a wonderful place for adults with developmental disabilities.http://www.lambsfarm.com/
They hosted the Buddy Walk which is a Down syndrome Awareness walk. They had a large tent set-up for different Down syndrome organizations to display info. We worked at the Gigi's Playhouse (www.gigisplayhouse.org) booth.
The 2 women working at the booths next to me were great. One was from NADS (www.nads.org). She was sharing stories about her son who is 20 with DS. He really wants his driver's license. He learned how to drive at 16 but hasn't taken the official test yet. I am so glad that that is at least 9 years off for Sophia. I have full plans to drive her everywhere she needs to go for th rest of her life. I am sure she won't have anything to say about that ;)
Another woman was from Ups for Downs. She was telling me about her daughter with DS, who is in 7th grade. As soon as she said 7th grade, I conjure up images in my head of Sophia in 7th grade. She's chasing boys, kissing boys. God help me. I snap back to reality. I tell the mom that Sophia sure talks about Drake and Josh a lot (Nickolodeon show)-that Drake is her boyfriend and she's going to California to see him. The mom smiles in acknowlegement and says that her daughter also likes Drake and Josh. I tell her half-jokingly that I was hoping that maybe Sophia won't be interested in boys-that somehow DS will take away all those hormones. She laughed and said, "Are you kidding?" and gave me an all-knowing smirk. I think she deicided to spare me the details of her 7th grade daughter and boys-kind of like nobody tells you about the pain of labor. Some things you just have to find out for yourself.
I also kind of have an unwritten rule in life. It's pretty simple-One Day At a Time! Who knows what the future will bring but I do have today to enjoy and I will savor every moment-even the wet marks on the t.v. left behind when Sophia kisses Drake.
1 comment:
Hi Jessica,
I am sorry that you seem to have misunderstood my comment regarding DS. I said that, "Although ideally, everyone 'should' be able to cope with the sacrifices necessary to raise a DS or other special-needs child, not everyone is able or willing to make such a large commitment." What I understand from you is that the parents, in your opinion, should not be given any options. You may be right, but the norm today is that parents do have the option to make a decision - whether their decision is right or wrong.
You ask whether I invest in my six children. Yes, I do, but as my children grow, they need different kinds of attention. The older one goes to the library & emails me her book report to go over. One wants me to read with him (in English, which is his 2nd language), another needs me to quickly check if she's done her homework right. Two of the little ones are in day care while I have a few hours with the older ones (who rarely all come home right after school). I spend the evenings with the little ones, while the older ones ride their bikes, hang out with friends, babysit or go visit their dad (two afternoons a week)... so, even with 6 kids, I find time to be alone with each of them and hopefully do a fairly good job of fulfilling their needs. Sometimes the older ones help out with the little ones too. (Mine are 14-1/2, 12, 12, 3, 2 and 2 weeks).
(BTW, I used the term DS people only for the sake of brevity and apologize if you found it insulting. My information about DS is partly from visiting my mom at work - she worked with adults with DS for several years, so my point-of-view is definitely swayed by that).
My kids didn't come with a list of guarantees and I didn't have testing for 4 of them (including NT scans). I felt fairly certain that if one of my children did have DS that it would be something I would handle. It is obviously something that I considered at the time (I didn't just count on the fact that my kids would be born healthy.) One of my kids has severe learning disabilities and although she is able to be in a regular class, I still sometimes find myself praying to have more patience with her.
I'm sure that your daughter is an amazingly wonderful person who has brought and will continue to bring your family incredible happiness. She is lucky to have a mom like you who cherishes every moment with her.
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