Ever since the news broke of Caroline Flack’s suicide yesterday, I’ve been feeling sombre, and more emotional than I have been the last few days.Only more than the last few days because – I started the week off emotionally exhausted after feeling really low and persistently crying. And then it was like a switch flipped and I was feeling marginally better again.
That’s the thing with mental health issues – sometimes you can’t see when that switch will go, other times it’s a slow burn. Read more
If you have someone who loves to travel and is always jetting off across the world on their adventures, then they’re not always the easiest person to buy for. Smellies and fancy toiletries probably won’t be their first priority when it comes to cramming everything into their backpack, and pretty home décor items probably wouldn’t be appreciated if they’re never at home to enjoy them properly… Read more
Whilst I’ve shared many snippets of our life on the blog – especially one of the more personal taboo, unspoken subjects of my mental health struggles – there’s one major part of our life I haven’t really spoken about. And that is, autism. A while ago I wrote a letter of sorts to my fellow special needs parents and that was really the first indicator on here, that we were dealing with this. Read more
The parent who wishes they could change the world’s view of their child’s normal, which is not like every other child’s normal.
The parent who dreads every single school run. The school run that ends in the walk of shame. Because your special child, is just being normal.
I see you.
The parent who lives in a shell with their special child because you dread every single outing.
The parent trying to hold it together whilst your special child is having a meltdown; because that’s their normal.
I see you.
The parent who is begging for help. Because you know your child isn’t every other child’s normal, but their special kind of normal.
The parent who is crumbling under the pressure of living with the difficulties your special normal child faces every. single. day.
I see you.
The parent who is sad that their special child is forever excluded from peer events, like birthday parties.
The parent who is sad that this even extends to their siblings.
I see you.
The parent who is reading this.
The parent who feels isolated.
I see you.
I see me.
I’m the one walking there, standing there, holding back the tears, head held in shame. But why should I be ashamed?
This is my special child. This is his normal.
My child can’t help the way he is. He just needs understanding. He needs me.
I need to be strong. Even if I don’t feel it, I need to show it. I need to fight for him.
He is my strength. He’s made me the mother I am today.
I see you – reading this. You are not alone. I stand with you. We have the fight, the strength, the courage.
We have the special kind of normal.
I recently read a post over on my good friend Lou’s blog about mental health and it got me thinking; how am I, really? I don’t really see many people “in real life” day-to-day, so it’s not often that I ask out loud. I do try to ask this online though; some days I’ll greet a group chat with the question, “How is everyone today?”. Some days they will share, some they won’t. But it makes me feel better to know that I’ve taken the time to ask, and given that prompt to share the load if needed. Read more
