Wednesday 28 March 2012

They Try and Try and Try

Shannon commented on the previous blog post. Rather than just let it sit there, I thought I'd bring it up here:

You know what got me in Richard Herring's piece? Where he said about having the balls to do something difficult the best you can. Because every week at Scope's/NANSA's School for Parents I see Maggie and three other little kids struggle to hold their heads steady, to reach out and grab the toy they want, to learn how to balance themselves - but they try, and try and try and try. They try so hard to do the things that were supposed to come naturally - and it's heartbreaking and heartwarming and really, really upsetting and amazing.

Tuesday 27 March 2012

Two Sides

Two sides of humanity, that is.

First off, here's a link to an excellent blog post that takes a look at some of the hateful fuckers who comment on the Daily Mail's website. Yes, I know it's the Daily Mail and that the people who read it are... well, what are they? They're just normal people. And that's what bothers me so much: the suspicion that quite a few normal, otherwise perfectly pleasant, people might hold similar views.

A LITTLE RESPECT

On the flipside, here's a lovely piece by the comedian Richard Herring (who's 'not yet disabled') about his experience with kids like Maggie.

DISABILITY IS AN ISSUE THAT CONFUSES AND EMBARRASSES

.

Sunday 18 March 2012

Happy Mother's Day Shannon!


Happy Mother's Day to Shannon who, despite doing a marvellous job with both of our girls, worries every single day that she isn't doing a good enough job.

Honestly, they - and especially Maggie - just couldn't have asked for a better mum. Without her they, and I, would be lost. I just wish it was all a bit more pleasurable for her, that it wasn't so hard.

Tuesday 6 March 2012

Thank You Shannon

I slipped on the ice a few weeks ago and severely bruised my shoulder by landing on – slamming into – the tow bar on the back of our car. As a result of that I’ve been unable to lift my arm. And as a result of that, I’ve been unable to lift Maggie. As you know, Maggie requires a lot of lifting.

Over this period Shannon has been an absolute angel. She’s been looking after Maggie every single night – putting her to bed and getting up with her in the early hours. Unfortunately, she’s been waking a lot through the night recently, anything up to three hours at a time. It’s been a nightmare.

As well as that, Shannon took time off work to help me at home. Actually, no – she was working from home. So she was at least in the other room if I needed a hand carrying Maggie and putting her to bed.

And as if all this wasn’t bad enough, Shannon also became ill last week. As did Alice and Maggie. And then, to a lesser extent, me. This past week then has been particularly bad. Maggie with her chest infection and Alice in an absolute state with some kind of viral infection, unable to sleep and howling through the night.

As I said earlier, Shannon has been amazing throughout all of this. I hate to say it – and I’m only saying it because it’s true – but if the situation had been reversed, I wouldn’t have been anywhere near as good. After the first day I would have probably shouted: “It’s only your fucking arm!”

So really, the purpose of this post is for me to say a big public thank you to Shannon for being so wonderfully selfless - and for being so caring and capable.

And for just being so wonderful. I'm very lucky to have her. So are the girls.

(Oh, and one thing all of this has brought home to us - as if we didn't know it before - is how important it is that we stay fit and healthy for Maggie's sake. Because really, we're on our own here.)