Pre Trip for Perrin: MAW WDW/GKTW for Star Wars Weekend!! June 2-9 2011!

[billwendy]

That is super cool!!! Then they learn that the "special" kids are just plain ol great kids!!!!!

[Perrinsmommy]

They do. They keep coming back every year. There are even a couple of kids who graduate from HS and come back even in college. Some become coaches. Perrin's assistant coach last year became involved in Miracle League after getting into a lot of trouble with the wrong crowd and in school and turned his life around. The baseball field and facility was even donated to the miracle league by Nolan Ryan and the Round Rock Express!

[billwendy]

That is totally AWESOME!!!! I forgot you are in Round Rock - I have family in Georgetown (Sun City)!!

[Corrine 1973]

Originally Posted by billwendy

Ugh - uneducated kid with uneducated parents - what a totall bummer that he said that!!

I work super hard at having kids accept any person for who they are. I bring a bunch of teens from my church with me to Camp Promise in MT. Its a camp for kids/adults with various special needs. At first, the teens were kinda scared to come - but now for some of them its their 7th year coming!! And, 3 of them have made decisions to become special education teachers. They have learned that special education or special needs doesnt me dumb! It just means a bit different. My nephew Matt, who is now 17 (came with us to camp when he was just 11) gets in and really has a good time with the campers - he tackles the Kids with Down Syndrome and wrestles with the guys too!!!

People are just different, we need to be accepting!!!!!!

I try to do the same thing with my kids. I worked at a workshop for Developmentaly Disabled Adults for 11 years (had to quit when Rylan was born because I didn't want to be an hour away if there were any medical problems) I absolutly love the guys/gals I worked with and would always bring my kids to events. There was also a guy there that I kind of adopted and brought home for Easter, the Ren Faire, and just because for a day or two. I truely believe that the world would be better if we could see the world through their eyes.

[billwendy]

Originally Posted by Corrine 1973

I try to do the same thing with my kids. I worked at a workshop for Developmentaly Disabled Adults for 11 years (had to quit when Rylan was born because I didn't want to be an hour away if there were any medical problems) I absolutly love the guys/gals I worked with and would always bring my kids to events. There was also a guy there that I kind of adopted and brought home for Easter, the Ren Faire, and just because for a day or two. I truely believe that the world would be better if we could see the world through their eyes.

Thats just AWESOME!!! My SIL has Down Syndrome, and truely, she can be a hoot!! Back when she was little kid, there was even less awareness than there is now. That reminds me - she is coming up from Georgetown for a visit in a month while her parents go on a cruise that she isnt interested in - lol!!!

[blessedmom4]

[brookerene]

Here is Perrins's Calendar.. if I didn't spell Perrin's name, let me know and I'll fix it! I did the font in Pirate but can change it to disney... let me know




If you have any trouble with downloading this, PM me and I'll email it!

Hope you enjoy!

[Perrinsmommy]

Originally Posted by brookerene

Here is Perrins's Calendar.. if I didn't spell Perrin's name, let me know and I'll fix it! I did the font in Pirate but can change it to disney... let me know




If you have any trouble with downloading this, PM me and I'll email it!

Hope you enjoy!

Gorgeous! THANKS!!!!

[blessedmom4]

Brooke's WONDERFUL, isn't she?!? She has done that for SEVERAL people!!! She is going to do one for us as well!!!! SOMEDAY!

[Perrinsmommy]

I think every parent of a special needs child has run across this essay by Emily Perl Kingsley. It sums up the "surprise" of having a special needs child when you are planning the birth of your child.

When you’re going to have a baby, it’s like planning a fabulous vacation trip to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum, the Sistine Chapel, Gondolas. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It’s all very exciting. After several months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, “Welcome to Holland!” “Holland?” you say. “What do you mean, Holland? I signed up for Italy. I’m supposed to be in Italy. All my life I’ve dreamed of going to Italy.” But there’s been a change in the flight plan. They’ve landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven’t taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place full of pestilence, famine, and disease. It’s just a different place. So, you must go out and buy new guidebooks. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It’s just a different place. It’s slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you’ve been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around. You begin to notice that Holland has windmills. Holland has tulips. And Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they’re all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life you will say, “Yes, that’s where I was supposed to go. That’s what I had planned.” And the pain of that experience will never, ever, ever, go away. The loss of that dream is a very significant loss. But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn’t get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things about Holland.

[billwendy]

Ahh, I love this - its so true!!!!

[tinytreasures]

Love the Holland story. They have that up on the wall in the casting room, where my kids get legs casts put on every 6 months.

[Perrinsmommy]

Originally Posted by billwendy

Ahh, I love this - its so true!!!!

Originally Posted by tinytreasures

Love the Holland story. They have that up on the wall in the casting room, where my kids get legs casts put on every 6 months.

I first came across this and the one about god picking the mom for a special needs child (I'll post that next) right after Perrin was born premature and I was feeling EXTREMELY sorry for myself. It helped me realize that it wasn't the end of the world and that was just beginning a new journey, a hard but very rewarding one!

[Perrinsmommy]

Did you ever wonder how mothers of handicapped children are chosen? Somehow I visualize God hovering over Earth selecting his instruments forpropagation with great care and deliberation. As he observes, he instructs his angels to make notes in a giant ledger.
"Armstrong, Beth; son; patron saint, Matthew.
"Forrest, Marjorie; daughter; patron saint, Cecelia.
"Rudledge, Carrie; twins; patron saint.... give her Gerard. He's used to profanity.
" Finally, he passes a name to an angel and smiles, "Give her a handicapped child."
The angel is curious. "Why this one, God? She's so happy."
"Exactly," smiles God. "Could I give a handicapped child a mother who does not know laughter? That would be cruel."
"But has she patience?" asks the angel.
"I don't want her to have too much patience or she will drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wears off, she'll handle it."
"I watched her today. She has that feeling of self and independence. She'll have to teach the child to live in her world and that's not going to be easy."
"But, Lord, I don't think she even believes in you."
God smiles. "No matter. I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just enough selfishness." The angel gasps, "Selfishness? Is that a virtue?"
God nods. "If she can't separate herself from the child occasionally, she'll never survive. Yes, there is a woman I will bless with a child less then perfect. She doesn't realize it yet, but she is to be envied. She will never take for granted a spoken word. She will never consider a step ordinary. When her child says "Momma" for the first time, she will be present at a miracle and know it! When she describes a tree or a sunset to her blind child, she will see it as few people ever see my creations." "I will permit her to see clearly the things I see---ignorance, cruelty, prejudice--- and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work as surely as she is here by my side."
"And what about her patron saint?" asks the angel, his pen poised in midair.
God smiles. "A mirror will suffice."

[blessedmom4]

Originally Posted by Perrinsmommy

Did you ever wonder how mothers of handicapped children are chosen? Somehow I visualize God hovering over Earth selecting his instruments forpropagation with great care and deliberation. As he observes, he instructs his angels to make notes in a giant ledger.
"Armstrong, Beth; son; patron saint, Matthew.
"Forrest, Marjorie; daughter; patron saint, Cecelia.
"Rudledge, Carrie; twins; patron saint.... give her Gerard. He's used to profanity.
" Finally, he passes a name to an angel and smiles, "Give her a handicapped child."
The angel is curious. "Why this one, God? She's so happy."
"Exactly," smiles God. "Could I give a handicapped child a mother who does not know laughter? That would be cruel."
"But has she patience?" asks the angel.
"I don't want her to have too much patience or she will drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wears off, she'll handle it."
"I watched her today. She has that feeling of self and independence. She'll have to teach the child to live in her world and that's not going to be easy."
"But, Lord, I don't think she even believes in you."
God smiles. "No matter. I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just enough selfishness." The angel gasps, "Selfishness? Is that a virtue?"
God nods. "If she can't separate herself from the child occasionally, she'll never survive. Yes, there is a woman I will bless with a child less then perfect. She doesn't realize it yet, but she is to be envied. She will never take for granted a spoken word. She will never consider a step ordinary. When her child says "Momma" for the first time, she will be present at a miracle and know it! When she describes a tree or a sunset to her blind child, she will see it as few people ever see my creations." "I will permit her to see clearly the things I see---ignorance, cruelty, prejudice--- and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work as surely as she is here by my side."
"And what about her patron saint?" asks the angel, his pen poised in midair.
God smiles. "A mirror will suffice."

Another Oldie but a Goodie!!!