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 […]
All posts tagged: attitudes

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, […]

A New and Very Unexpected Heartbreak
A NEW AND VERY UNEXPECTED HEARTBREAK I think it is a very natural thing, as a parent, to worry. It seems particularly true of us females. I hate to make generalisations, but from conversations I have had with other mums, it tends to be the […]

No Cry, Mummy…..
NO CRY, MUMMY! It is an emotional moment for any parent when their child achieves something monumental. When you have spent day after day, month after month – even years – watching your child tirelessly try and try and try again with a steely determination […]

My Greatest Teacher
Barely a week, or even day, goes by when we are not somehow reminded how our lives are so much richer for having Seb in it. Something I could never have anticipated before he was born, or even when we were first told of his […]

Quick Maths Test
QUICK MATHS TEST My sister has 46 chromosomes. i have 47. All from our mum and dad. Does my one extra chromosome make me like her or like everyone else with Down’s syndrome?

What Are You Staring At?
WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT? Today I had one of those moments that creep up on you from nowhere. You know, when you are going about your usual business but you catch your breath as you realise how grown up your child suddenly looks. A […]