Kidz

There are a few people that I've recently connected with in the special needs world. I feel so fortunate to call them my friends. I've grown so much from their examples and faith. I met Tara awhile ago. She is an amazing mother. She also has a blog called Kidz -- a community for special needs parents. I am honored that she posted an article I wrote -- to be a voice among these great women that I'm continually learning from....

I've been thinking a lot about expectations I have, or don't have, for Samantha. I recognize that she is a gem of a girl. I do. And I believe it. But I have also recently discovered that I put limits on her because she has this thing called microcephaly, and because others have lower expectations for her. They have dictated my own expectations for her. I didn't fully realize this until about a month ago, and when I did discover this, I was so angry with myself. And I didn't understand how I, as her mother, who has been her advocate from the beginning, had limited her. Had set a cap on her progress. My expectations weren't as high as they should have been. And, like I said, I didn't realize this until I recently started to believe she had the potential to achieve more than I had been thinking...and then I realized..."why hadn't I believed this before?" I began a journey of trying to figure it out. And then I wrote about it. You can read about it here.

Everything has changed for me as I've changed my expectations for Samantha...and then I started to think...what if I did that in every area of my life? hmm Food for thought.