Strength

On Monday I attended a new group, CP Connections, for parents of kids with cerebral palsy. It was pretty intimidating because the other parents' kids are aged 6-26, compared to Anchor Center where our kids are all under 3. I am looking forward to their wisdom as they have been navigating life parenting a kid with CP for longer but seeing all the possibilities for our future is pretty overwhelming. They chose an amazing quote as their motto: "You don't know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have."

I love this quote! People keep telling me how strong I am and I always think that most people, if put in my shoes, would exhibit the same strength. It's not that I'm someone special, it's that Wesley needs me to be strong so I am. I have heard countless times, "God only gives special children to special parents." I know people who are encouraged enormously by this but I have a different theory. God didn't choose us to parent Wesley because we are anything special. He chose us because He is something spectacular.

Recently, a friend shared a post from another blog that fits with this idea. My favorite part is: "Contrary to popular belief, parents of kids with disabilities are not born knowing how to fight for what our kids need. We’re not tougher or more resilient than everyone else, sometimes we might just really want to cower in the corner and not have to deal with it at all. Some of us may have been raised to believe that asking for things or making a fuss is impolite, and dealing with conflict goes against every fibre of our being. Yet this is what we’re required to do every day because we live in a world where the very normal needs of our kids - to eat, sleep, breathe, learn, play and be a part of the community in a safe, painless and stress-free way - are for some reason considered to be special."

With the best of intentions, friends make me and other parents of special needs kids out to be some sort of heroes when in reality, we are ordinary parents who have to navigate a new, unexpected world for the sake of our precious children. We are not stronger than others by nature, we are simply placed in circumstances that require us to be strong.

Medical Update:

We are keeping Wes in his helmet full time for another month. The last scan looked very similar to the one they did two months ago. We are doing another scan at the end of April and if it looks the same, then we are done with the helmet, woohoo! I am amazed at how good his head looks so we will be happy if it stays like this.

We are down to Wes only throwing up a couple times a week instead of a couple times a day (Yay!)

All dressed up in his Easter suit. :)