There is a great day planned for just families called Family Fun Day. This takes place on a Saturday in September. It is hosted by The Center for Exceptional Families. This is the best place you could ever find to care for your child or adult with special needs.
At this place resources and caring go hand in hand. The staff and the doctors and nurses are there for you. The backbone of the Center is helping. They help with equipment, schooling, groups, school forms and also have the Special Needs Moms Support Group.
Anna had the opportunity to attend this year’s day with her “Dad” and her friend, Harrison and his mom, Kristen. Warrior mom was working on this day. It can be hard to make it to these events but I do personally try to make her days filled with fun events and outings especially on the weekends.
A great time was had by all of them. Paul came back and reported that they had good food, ice cream, lots of great activities and the kids got capes! What a fun idea that they are “super kids.” Well, let me tell you Anna wore the cape all day long. She loved to pull on the silk red strings that were hanging on her neck. Fun fact about Anna is that she loves a hooded sweatshirt because she loves to play with the ties and it keeps her happy and busy. Her cape was on her all day and by bedtime I had to work to get the knot out as she enjoyed pulling on it all day long. What a great idea.
When you attend these events it is bittersweet. You can see your kid grow as they do different activities each time. They can interact with the staff in different ways than if you are at a doctor or therapy appointment at the Center. It is nice to socialize in a clinic setting. I have some great memories of Gabby and Grant attending these events with their sister. In those years it was very hard to get all three of them to be involved at the same time. Birth order matters greatly when you have a child with special needs. You have to help the older kids for a long time and then you get to focus more attention on your younger one, or the special child is the first born and it’s hard because you are chasing the younger ones white trying to attend to the child who needs more help. I encourage you to keep it up and don’t give up, it’s doable and they can be future helpers.
Don’t we look back as moms and think how did we do all that? Even if you have one child you still juggle more because you feel like you can do more. We can’t choose our birth order but it all plays out well in the long run.
Years ago there used to be a dunk tank for the main doctor. I believe that has petered out, but as mentioned above, very fun memories.
Thank you CEF for giving this event and giving away lovely Fleece Blankets for our kids. Anna’s blanket has flying dinosaurs and will be made into a wheelchair cape for her this weekend (hopefully).
Below is a picture of the day with Harrison, Kristin, and Dad. Definitely was a family fun day for all involved.
