It was supposed to be just another weekly Stay-At-Home Dad’s Day, but cheer practice changed those expectations. Instead, my dad's role became more clear. My job has allowed me the flexibility to stay at home while my wife works once a week as a nurse in the hospital. Typically these days are all about survival. With my wife being a nurse, she is gone for 13–14 hours the days she works. … [Read more...]
Just Enough Hope
This past winter was a doozy. Long. Snowy. Cold. Dark. But eventually, the daylight hours started increasing. The cardinals and wrens began singing in the morning. The robins came back. The temperatures started rising in late February, and so did my spirits. Until I caught a cold. Sore throat. Plugged ears. Red nose. Bad cough. This winter reminded me of my first winter as a new … [Read more...]
Special Needs Child Climbing In Faith
Stephanie, my wife, called to share a potentially scary story about Fayth, our daughter born with Down syndrome. Special Needs Child Like To Scare “Hey, you won’t believe what Fayth just did.” Not the first line I typically like to hear from Stephanie. “Do I need to step out of the room? Is she okay…” “Oh yeah, she’s fine. But it could have been bad.” She interjected quickly. “What did … [Read more...]
Special Needs Goals for My Tuesday Child
Ahhh, the holiday hub-bub has come to an end. The tree and the decorations are down. The recycling truck hauled away the wrapping paper and boxes. The holiday leftovers are almost gone. The kids are back in school. My jeans still fit, though they're snugger than normal. Now's the time to sit down with a doughnut and cup of coffee–um, scratch the doughnut and make the coffee black–and ponder … [Read more...]
Light in the Darkness of Special Needs
Our son was six months old on his first Christmas. By then he'd racked up one ambulance ride, two surgeries, three hospital stays, three airplane trips (two of them life flights to the University of Nebraska Hospital and one airline flight to a scheduled doctor's appointment at the same medical facility), and dozens of 240 mile round trips to Rapid City for doctor's appointments and … [Read more...]
Saying Yes To A Wheelchair
A common "stereotype" of a person who is in a wheel chair is that the chair itself limits that person from living a full life and balanced life. Sometimes when we are in public people will make comments like "poor kid to be so limited." ( I personally find this very rude and really have to hold my tongue) The fact is for Lilly a wheelchair enables her to do things that she once could not. In … [Read more...]