10 Commandments for Parents w/ Special Needs Kids

1. Take one day at a time, and take that day positively. You don't have control over the future, but you do have control over today.
2. Never underestimate your child's potential. Allow him, encourage him, expect him to develop to the best of his abilities.
3. Find and allow positive mentors: parents and professionals who can share with you their experience, advice, and support.
4. Provide and be involved with the most appropriate educational and learning environments for your child from infancy on.
5. Keep in mind the feelings and needs of your spouse and your other children. Remind them that this child does not get more of your love just because he gets more of your time.
6. Answer only to your conscience: then you'll be able to answer to your child. You need not justify your actions to your friends or the public.
7. Be honest with your feelings. You can't be a super-parent 24 hours a day. Allow yourself jealousy, anger, pity, frustration, and depression in small amounts whenever necessary.
8. Be kind to yourself. Don't focus continually on what needs to be done. Remember to look at what you have accomplished.
9. Stop and smell the roses. Take advantage of the fact that you have gained a special appreciation for the little miracles in life that others take for granted.
10. Keep and use a sense of humor. Cracking up with laughter can keep you from cracking up from stress.

Author Unknown

Update to: Horrible Reaction to Dilating Eye Drops

I took Matthew to his pediatric eye doctor last Friday. On Monday (maybe Sunday?) I noticed he was blinking hard with both eyes..Matthew never blinks like that. The only thing "new" that we did was get the dilating drops in his eyes. Here we are one week later and Matthew is still blinking and doing it more often. It is very disturbing for me to watch. I called his eye doc and his advice was to put saline drops in Matthew's eyes whenever he blinked...that would teach him to stop blinking (aka punish him)..I don't think so! Matthew is NOT blinking on purpose...watch the video, it is completely involuntary (he is trying to watch a Veggie Tales movie).

I found out that Johns Hopkins Children's Hospital has an Eye Emergency Room so we are driving 1.5 hours tomorrow to find it! Hopefully someone there will tell us what we can do about this...I firmly believe it is a side effect of the drops which contain: cyclopentolate hydrochloride, benzalkonium chloride, boric acid, edetate disodium, potassium chloride, sodium carbonate, and hydrochloric acid. Please pray that the blinking stops.

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SATURDAY UPDATE: The trip to Hopkins was a total waste of time. There was a young Resident on duty there and he obviously had no experience with such blinking or kids for that matter. He actually wanted to put more dilating drops in Matthew's eyes to examine him. I said NO WAY and he said there was nothing else for him to do. I kept asking: "What is this?...Why did it start and how do I stop it?...Have you ever seen this before?" He had no answers and told me to see our pediatrician. Wow, I drove all the way to Baltimore for that?!

Halloween, Blog Anniversary, & My Birthday!

It's been a festive weekend...today is my 38th birthday, Friday was Halloween (watch video) and also the one year anniversary of this blog. Don't ask WHY I started the blog on 10/31 last year...it just happened!





Matthew had a blast on Friday night. He was a Cowboy (b/c he loves horses) and enjoyed going door to door for candy (which I later switched out with GFCF versions). He said "hello...trick or treat...thank you" at every house. He received many compliments and one lady even said he was her favorite and gave him a special toy. Unfortunately, John wasn't here to participate but I have plenty of photos. (See Facebook :)