Seb and I spent a wonderful afternoon yesterday with David Stanley, Founder and Director of the MusicMan Project, and Jenny Hitchcock, the project’s Regional Director. Based in the place I still call “home”, The Music Man Project is run by Southend Mencap and Seb and […]
All posts filed under: inclusion
Graffiti on His Precious Book
It’s just a few scribbles but the words and the handwriting from Seb’s little red book are indelibly stamped in my memory. I stared at them so many times and for so long. Graffiti on his precious notes. Holding my breath so as not to […]
The Elephant in the Room…..
*ahem* can we just have a quick chat about that elephant in the room…. Welcome to World Down Syndrome Week, which leads us to #WDSD on Saturday. It is a fantastic opportunity for the world to pull together and spread up to date and accurate […]
Then…….
I am sitting here on the eve of Seb’s birthday, his 7th birthday. Somehow in my head he is still 4 and his brother is 2 – for no other reason than I cannot believe he has been earthside for 7 whole years. And I […]
There’s A Silver Lining?
Yesterday the skies were blue and there was a definite promise of spring in the air. As the start of half term, Seb’s birthday on the way and the unavoidable knowledge that it was valentines day, we decided to spend the day in our beautiful […]
About A Boy
Seb’s birthday is just two days after Valentine’s Day and the rather brash and inescapable arrival of redness across the land serves as a reminder that another milestone is just around the corner. At this time of year it is impossible for me not to […]
Reflections at Sunset over Four Decades
I really envy all those people who view age as ‘just a number’. I have always known I would hate getting ‘old’. Even as a really small child of about 7 I used to be thankful for my youth. I can remember being in my […]
Little People see a Person, not a Syndrome
LITTLE PEOPLE SEE A PERSON, NOT A SYNDROME This is Seb and Ella, aged 4. They have known each since birth and they are second cousins. Ella’s mum and I were pregnant at the same time and the children are a couple of months apart. […]
And This is the One I Worry About….
AND THIS IS THE ONE I WORRY ABOUT….. LITERALLY just the other night I was at a friend’s house enjoying a lovely festive evening of drinks and nibbles and chatting with some other mums. We all talked about our kids in various forms. They all […]
Grow Old With Me….
GROW OLD WITH ME…… We are not ones for overblown romantic gestures in this house. If a bouquet arrives at the office I know it’s not for me and I am really, honestly fine about it. We have own “special” ways of showing that we […]
“God I Love This Kid!” – The Hoff
“GOD, I LOVE THIS KID!” – The Hoff As we took our front row seats at the panto this evening I said to my mum “if we get through this unnoticed I’ll be amazed”…… My mum tried to get us all tickets for the panto […]
Making Waves with the Gentle Ripples of Inclusion
MAKING WAVES WITH THE GENTLE RIPPLES OF INCLUSION MAKING WAVES WITH THE GENTLE RIPPLES OF INCLUSION….. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that something whisked away and hidden is something feared. Especially if nobody knows anything about it and it has a big, […]
Force of Nature 