Life after loss with one teenager, two surviving triplets and a rainbow baby
In my previous life I was the director of a nearby autism center. We ran many kinds of programs out of the university-based center but my favorites were the programs that involved the siblings. There was something about these kids. My daughter was still an only child at the time so I had no idea about this dynamic and how it presented itself in everyone’s homes. The one thing I did know was the siblings I was fortunate enough to {Read More}
When I was a full of drama, teenager/middle-schooler/probably elementary schooler and preschooler too, I would stomp off to my room when mad. Shutting my door, I would flop in dramatic defeat onto my bed and sigh loud enough for the house to hear. Laying there, unsatisfied with the lack of results from my grand showcasing of emotions, I would add another sigh or two, for effect. Being mad never really got me anywhere other than staring at the back of {Read More}
When she was 6 or 7 or a length too long to bend into a grocery cart I stood in the parking lot, defeated. I was a single mom then and Ashlyn didn’t just wander, she ran. Or she didn’t just run she pulled her fingers along every item at eye level, collecting some, knocking some down, wailing as I bargained with her to put something back. It was all too much, I pictured our cupboards emptying as my mind {Read More}
My blog is finally fixed, thanks for deciding to click over one more time despite my never-ending technical difficulties. I promise if you leave a comment you won’t get an annoying error message and now would be a totally good time to comment if you are a reader but never a commenter. Just say hi so I know you’re out there or tell me what book you’re reading right now if you’re a reader (I’m reading “The Forgotten Waltz” by {Read More}
When I was pregnant with the triplets I dreamt of the normalcy of their childhood. I’m sure normal and raising triplets don’t usually belong in the same sentence but in my mind they would. I looked forward to sitting still with a cup of coffee and a mom-friend, watching our kids at dance class or a baseball game. Ashlyn was 12 at the time and I had yet to sit down. We had worked on potty training for long enough {Read More}
I’m a little annoyed with my World Autism Awareness Day post. Not because it isn’t true and not because we don’t need more support and services and solutions but because I didn’t take the time to share how amazing it is to have a child with autism. Yes it is not always easy and no neither of us slept for her first 10 years but being an autism parent is an insanely rewarding job. The little things are the big {Read More}
Autism Awareness month has changed so much for us over the years. When Ashlyn was young I wore awareness ribbons and puzzle pieces and used this time to explain autism. It was my chance to spread the awareness we still needed. Autism affected 1 in 450 then. Now everyone knows about autism. Everyone is aware of a neighbor or a nephew or a child’s classmate who has been diagnosed. They don’t need an explanation of what autism is, they’ve seen {Read More}
Ashlyn volunteers at the hospital where my mom works. She is a regular there, her friends generally other volunteers, 60 years or so her senior. If you were to walk into the lunchroom when she is sitting with her fellow volunteers, she would glare at you as most teenagers do when you shout “I love you” from your minivan window at school drop off. There are very few employes left who have not met her or had the chance to {Read More}
Long before my daughter’s hormones began to change I had thoroughly planted myself in denial. Not only would she begin puberty far, far into the future but before it began, we would have plenty of years of cognitive development thus making it extremely simple to explain the physical changes that would occur and how to handle them. Is it necessary for me to say that I was wrong on all accounts? I was blind-sided by hormonal shifts that began long {Read More}
Hoping Santa is good to you this year! Merry Christmas from our family to yours. ———————— Need some fun things to do over the break? Try my favorite indoor activities over at Childswork. Trying to get through the holidays with grief? I’ve written about ways I cope at Still Standing Magazine. You might also like…Top 12 of 2012I knew I should have sent my Christmas cards out on New Year’sRemembering together
I'm Jessica, 30-something mom to five, four in my arms and one in my heart.
On any given day you will find me taxi-ing a teenager, mopping up our latest "art project" and trying to remember when I turned the crock pot on… all the while, looking for the closest Starbucks drive thru. more
