We have just returned from our summer holiday. It has been a lovely break for us all, no schedules to follow, days of simple pleasures – swimming, reading, playing cards, chatting, eating and relaxing. Whilst we undoubtedly were able to relax a lot, lot more […]
My heart is broken right now. We’ve known about the #NIPT testing for ages and my life hasn’t changed at all. I still have my own family unit that I wouldn’t change for anything, the world is still turning and it doesn’t actually affect me […]
I’ve seen Seb’s face / photo in some pretty awesome places over the last few years. But this one is by far the best. This isn’t the front page of a broadsheet, or a packet of chocolate. This isn’t the reception of a high street […]
What does the word “debilitating” conjure up to you? To me, it is a profoundly frail and sick person, unable to do pretty much anything. In my minds eye I imagine someone lying on the floor, or in a bed, desperate for help, pale in […]
So often we talk about “balance”. “I am pro-choice, as long as decisions are based on “balanced” information”. Giving the WHOLE picture. Except, more often than not, us parents of children with Downs syndrome really just want to counter balance the harsh scientific and medical […]
Whilst I am not an advocate of the line “everything happens for a reason” I certainly believe that everything thrown at us shapes, moulds and influences who we are – and there is no doubt that life guides us down certain paths and chance meetings […]
Seb and I were invited on to speak to the Loose Women panel on Wednesday 10th June. The whole invitation came about after a thank you note I posted on TK Maxx’s website went viral. The interview felt like a car crash at the time, […]
NCLUSION – A Devastating Irony We have spent the start of the Easter holidays doing the same typical things of families everywhere. We’ve travelled to grandparents, been to watch the football, a trip to the seaside, eaten well and scoffed lots of treats. The kids […]
We have a running joke in our house that if Seb *could* have ketchup for breakfast, he would. Well, today he did….and chips….. This morning we had the absolute pleasure of meeting writer and filmmaker Duncan Pavelling, in my home town in Essex. A chance […]
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 […]
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 […]
*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 […]
Force of Nature 