Every day I visit some sites about Down Syndrome; message boards, parents’ blogs and pages on Facebook that I’ve “liked.” These are the resources that I find most helpful - seeing other families who are living a very normal life.
One of my favorites is a father to a son named Noah. Theirs was a birth diagnosis [not prenatal like ours]. He has an old post titled “12 Things I Wish I Knew When I Found Our Our Son Had Ds” which I really liked:
1. Noah being born with Down syndrome doesn’t mean he’s sick or unhealthy.
2. Noah’s not going to be a vegetable. In fact, far from it.
3. Noah’s going to laugh and play just like every other kid.
4. Noah shares more things in common with a child without Down syndrome than differences.
5. In a few weeks your son having Down syndrome won’t be a big deal.
6. You’re going to have the ability to make a huge impact in the world.
7. Your going to have so much fun with your son. In fact, you’re going to have even more fun than you ever imagined!
8. You aren’t alone.
9. Your didn’t just exchange a happy story for a sad one.
10. Other people’s stories aren’t your stories.
11. Stay off internet.
12. You and your family are going to be just fine.
Throughout this process I’ve realized how little I knew [if anything] about Ds. I think and hope our family and friends will learn through our experience, maybe even educate themselves a little here and there, and we can all take this journey together into unknown territory!
I found noahsdad.com and after reading the most recent blog post I now want Hannah (or Nora) to have a birthday party at Home Depot. Mini Home Depot aprons. Thanks for sharing this one, Stiner.
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