Originally Posted by cocotbo
Well, I think that is pretty profound coming from a professional writer!
But it seems to me that you've had to grow significantly more as a parent because of your childrens' special needs.
Very profound and admirable. As a writer, I'm really trying to wrap my mind around what you went through.
Thanks, but you give me way too much credit! There were days when all I wanted to do was bury myself under the covers and make the world go away. It was a dark, dark time. But, you can only stay down for so long. After all, the world keeps turning no matter what is going on in our little universe.
The lessons I learned from my girls carried over into other parts of life. For example, it taught me that I was using words way too much with hubby. I had gotten into the habit of talking my way out of things, using words as a magic salve. The right words could make all the pain go away, they'd make everything alright... but then I wouldn't follow through. I've learned to keep my mouth shut sometimes and
show, not
tell. I think it has definitely helped my marriage.
It also helped my work-at-home situation. For years, I had been ignoring my love of writing. Instead, I was making candy wrappers and mother's bracelets and anything else I could sell online. I was always trying to "find myself." After learning of Alia's deafness, though, I just had to write. It was therapeutic. At first it was
just therapeutic-- journaling, letters to God, etc. But then I sold some of the articles. My first writing $$$ came from articles about deafness. Some were just $12 jobs for Write for Cash, but my first "big break" was a $700 article to Woman's World magazine. Although it felt a bit wrong to benefit from my daughter's disability, it felt great to share our story with the world. Maybe another mother would recognize the signs in her child and get help sooner. Maybe a parent would learn the value of things unspoken. Anyway... after that I gave up candy wrappers, mother's bracelets, and all the rest.
The most important thing I learned from my girls, though, is to appreciate the little everyday miracles. I never gave much thought to hearing until I had kids who couldn't. Now I truly enjoy the sounds around me-- the birds chirping... the water trickling... a sweet 3 year old saying "I love you."
Okay... that got a little longer than I intended. It's just weird how things work out. You learn things you never thought you'd need to know-- and you're much stronger (and maybe even happier?) for it.
(By the way, I don't talk about my middle daughter nearly enough on here, but she's great. Her name is Hallah and she is 5. She has no hearing problems, no speech problems, no medical problems at all, thank God. She is suffering from "middle child syndrome," but we're working on it!)
What are the differences?
Linear Mode
