Happy Birthday to You…

Wow, I can’t believe she is 26 years old today.

Happy Birthday to You…

I wonder what the next 26 years will look like for Elizabeth?

Happy Birthday to dear Elizabeth

I hope Elizabeth is happy with how her life is going!

Happy Birthday to You…

I pray God blesses your path, my angel Elizabeth.

Yes, that is the official transcript of my thought process as she is ready to blow out her candles

I wish I was not so much of a thinker and could just be happy the candles didn’t melt onto the cake, but alas, I am not this person.

So I think.

and think,

and think.

Not obsessively mind you, just situationally.

It is birthdays and other markers of time passing tend to make this happen.

And for those who have special needs in their life, you know just how much time you have spent doing for, helping, and working with your child with special needs that you can’t help but wonder “what if I had done this or that?” ” What if I had the chance to do this new therapy back then, would she be a better talker now?”

I know that so many new therapies, ideas and treatments have come and gone and come again since Elizabeth was little but there would have been absolutely no way that we could have even learned about them all, let alone tried them for her.

But you still can’t help wondering….

Was the path you took the correct one?

So as I have those thoughts that I shared with you, I feel I want to share something that helps me at these times.

And it is, that at the time we made ANY decision for or with Elizabeth, we did it with the best of intentions and with the most information we had at that time.

PERIOD.

I can’t spend more than those fleeting moments wondering if we got it right. Or if we did it wrong. Because the truth is we did both.

We did some things right and some things wrong.

But we did it all with the best of intentions with the most information we had at the time.

So while I may be a thinker, I have learned to be kind to myself as I think of our journey. This is something I have learned in the past 26 years. It is something, I want to share with you. Because who knows who may need to read this right now.

And as she blows out the candles one by one, I know that the right things we did show from her smile to her laugh to her ability to text thank you to her uncle and aunt for their gifts.

I will hold onto the good and offer to you to do the same and be kind to you as well.

I wish everyone a peaceful week.

Michele Gianetti author of Elizabeth Believes In Herself

I don’t know about you but for some reason when the calendar turns to July, I think that summer just sort of speeds up.

It seems like it goes nice and slowly for the month of June and then once July 4th hits it is kind of a down hill speed up until you look up and see that August is RIGHT there.

And by Right there, I mean with August comes the planning for your child for the new school year. In fact, some schools start mid August so that means it is even a bit closer than our school system that starts at the very end of August.

I think that now is a good time to do what I call the Mid Summer Check In.

I can remember doing this with Elizabeth, when she was younger. For those who don’t know, Elizabeth is my daughter who has special needs. She has Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) and Global Dyspraxia. Both of these disorders affect her life each and everyday. So we have had an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) for her since 1st grade and have been in therapy in one form or another since she was 2.5 years old.

I find it helpful to do this check in because at the half way point (or more) you can see if you are working well on your goals that you set for you and your child back in May or maybe they need adjusted a bit.

Did your child get to work on the writing as much as you had hoped? I know that even the best laid plans can be moved aside by the possibility of a trip to the park or pool. But now is a good time to adjust the schedule and try again.

Did they get to read that book that was thh original goal? Sometimes the story or words just didn’t catch their attention or were to hard. Maybe now is the time to get another book and try again. Make some “quiet reading time” each day. I have to say I was surprised how nicely relaxing it was when we did that and EVERYONE had a book at the same time

Maybe working with and counting money was the plan. Did this happen as often as you would like? If not, maybe make your child “pay” for their snacks at home, sort of a store to work on this.

Speech work, social skills, organizational skills, work/employment skills…the list goes on and one. But since each person is unique, the goals and plans for the summer are just that as well.

So my goal of reading may be great but the writing may need work and so on.

This mid summer check in allows you to evaluate, adjust and plan for the next half.

To be honest, even though she is 26 years old, I still find myself to be conditioned to kind of think about her goals and aspirations now and see what needs tweaked.

The other good thing is that as you evaluate and plan, you can make notes and put down thoughts that can help you as you introduce your child to their teacher for the next school year. You will have a strong, concrete list of things to share with the school.

I know that sitting on a float in a pool far and away beats counting money some days, there really is time for both things…..all things really.

It just takes planning and checking in to evaluate progress.

I wish everyone a peaceful week.

Michele Gianetti author of Elizabeth Believes in Herself