Laurie has inspired me. She told me that she's going to be attending a playgroup soon with other parents/children with Ds. I've been thinking about this for a while actually, and her email motivated me to finally take a step in the direction of making it happen.
For a long time I wanted nothing to do with real-life families of kids with Ds . . . I think it seemed too overwhelming to me, and I was scared of what I might see. And in all honesty, I'm still a little scared. I mean, it's easy to live in my little comfortable bubble with Finn, you know? I'm still afraid to think too much about the future, and I know that seeing real flesh-and-blood kids who are older than Finn will provide something of a window into the future. And that does frighten me a little, because after all this time I still wonder sometimes if I'm cut out for this - being a parent to a child with special needs.
Michael once said to me, quite a while back, something to the effect that he thinks my blogging is great, but that he'd like to see me take it to a real-life level. And I guess that's where I'm at: ready, and even wanting, to connect to other families with children with Ds now.
I have not gotten involved at all with our local Ds organization, and I suppose that would be a start. But honestly, with the number of kids I have and the schedule I have to uphold because of that, I don't want - nor would I realistically be able - to travel hither and thither all over my county. So I'm taking the bull by the horns (read: I'm a control-freak and I want to do this on my terms). I put ads in Craigslist and MamaSource looking for local parents of babies and toddlers with Ds (and by local, I mean I'd really like to meet families in my actual city) to create some sort of playgroup.
So, we'll see what happens. And thanks for the nudge, Laurie :)
Adieu
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After more than two years and 555 posts (556 counting this one!), I'm
saying goodbye to Adventures in Motherhood. I'm ready for a change, and
I've started ...
13 years ago
12 comments:
I did this when Morgan was about 6 months old and we met monthly with other babies all within a year of Morgan. A different mom hosted the event each month and we took all of our kids that weren't in school. I loved it! I got great ideas from the other moms of things that had worked or not worked for them. We have all stayed close but only get together about once a year now for a dinner night with just the moms. We were all too overwhelmed to be around older kids with Ds at the time and chose to just have it with children around our child's age. It worked great for me! Good luck!
Try http://www.meetup.com/! I highly recommend you start a playgroup there.
Our local group meets quarterly - we really enjoy the get-togethers. I think the group is about to start monthly playdates. You're inspiring me to try to be a part of that - I was kind of waffling.
I can't wait to hear about your group! Good for you for taking such a giant step!
I have felt the same way as you have and even felt overwhelmed and scared to read all the books they gave me. But, I have realized that even though sometimes I do get overwhelmed and down, I just come home and cry a little and then get back up and think I am glad i learned this and that and saw this and that as it will help me to help Sam as time goes on and helps me to become stronger both mentally, emotionally and physically to be the best Mom I can be to a child with a disibility.
I think it's great that you're ready to meet some people in real life. Blogging is great = but meeting in person is really great, too. I asked my EI coordinator to give my name and number to other local families....so you may want to try that if you don't get responses online. Hope it all goes well!
Good for you! I hope you meet some folks. We have met a ton of people just through our local DS org and it turns out the majority of them live super close (one family actually lives just a street over from us). We now have a whole group of friends--actual friends--who also happen to have kids with DS. We hang out and yeah, we might talk about this or that re: DS, but mostly, we just hang. It's great.
Sounds like a great plan. I hope all goes well for you!
I love meeting families, but I also find myself overwhelmed by my thoughts when I'm around older kids. Not because of them, but because of me.
Feet first, awesome! Hope you meet some new moms soon!
You are most welcome : )
I am SO excited to hear how this goes! Please kup, ok?
That's awesome to hear! I'm looking forward to reading about your first playgroup:) I've met some amazing familes over the last 2+ years. Many of which started as my blogging friends first.
There is something to meeting with moms of kids with DS. I have a regular mom's group that meets weekly, but I look forward to the social group with the DS families each month. I find out that I have questions that I didn't even know I had until I see other kids Syd's age. I hope that you find something helpful and peaceful there.
I have no clue how I found your blog, but I did, and here I am.
First off, Finn is ADORABLE!! I truly miss those baby days.
Secondly, I felt exactly the same way you do....for a LOOOONNNGG time. Still do to a point now too, and my daughter (with DS) is 4. I am ok with kids younger than her, and maybe a year or two older than her, but any older than that it makes me nervous. Like you said, I don't want to get a glimpse of her possible future.
Anyways, good for you for getting out there! I hope you get something going.
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