Special Needs Parenting: My Christmas Wish List
Jodi Shenal
I'm a stay-at-home mom with two amazing children. My son is on the Autism spectrum and my daughter has a rare genetic disorder and multiple disabil...
I would strive to be good so that my Christmas wishes would come true.
Now, being a mother myself, I appreciate how hard my parents worked to ensure that we always had a wonderful Christmas.
As a mother of children with special needs, I’ve grown to realize what is truly priceless and my wish list no longer includes frivolous material items.
The things I wish for every day can’t be delivered by a jolly, bearded man on a sleigh.The gifts that I seek can’t be wrapped in pretty paper or adorned with shiny ribbon. The presents that I long for won’t fit neatly under our Christmas tree.
They are not commodities or goodies at all, and they require more than a simple wish.
Some of them require loads of diligent work, and others, nothing short of a prayer and a miracle. If I could create a Christmas Wish List to be magically fulfilled, it would look something like this.
1. I wish that my daughter’s Epilepsy could be cured and that her seizures would become a distant memory.
2. I wish that the things we take for granted (walking, communicating, eating, etc.) didn’t have to be so challenging for her, and I wish that I could make accomplishing them easier for her.3. I wish that I could promise her that there will be no surgeries or scary medical procedures next year.
4. I wish that I didn’t have to give her daily medications or have to worry about the damage they may cause her solitary kidney.
5. I wish I could express to her how truly amazing she is and how deeply she is loved.
6. I wish that my son could see how incredible he is and that Autism doesn’t define him.
7. I wish that I could make all of his anxieties disappear, and give him a great sense of self-confidence.8. I wish that making friends came easily and that kids only showed kindness to one another.
9. I wish for him to understand his magnificent talents and how intensely proud he makes me each day.
10. I wish for a world filled with compassion; that everyone would love, help and respect each other, no matter our limitations or disabilities.
I am greatly blessed and thankful for my children; the true gifts in my life.
My family is all that I need gathered around the tree to have a Merry Christmas.Still, the list of things that I most wish for will always remain, and I’ll always long for them, in case Santa is listening.
