Tips for Making Life Easier in Special Needs

I was driving my son to an appointment the other day and I was thinking about the chaos our family used to be in when he and his sister were little. Like years ago when we had 15 appointments a week and my head was still spinning because of the diagnosis and the new life and the missing of the old life.

1. Hold One Day Sacred – When we were at the height of therapy and doctor appointments in the early years (12-15 per week) I was committed to having one day a week when they didn’t have an appointment. Our day was Thursday. I would never, ever schedule an appointment on that day. It became a day we treasured when they were little.

2. Double Up on Appointments – We try to double up everything by scheduling things together to get appointments out of the way in the same day. The kids have come to appreciate getting them out of the way by interrupting their lives just one day.

3. Easy Clothes – For my girl with low muscle tone? Leggings, jeggings or jeans with elastic sides so buttons don’t need to be used.

4. Find Your Circle – find your people and hang on to them. When you find people who support you and your family in the way you need to be supported do not let them go.

5. Find Yourself (or don’t lose yourself in the first place) – Keep something of yours sacred. Fight to keep a hobby going or find one. Carve out time for yourself even if it’s a stolen 30 minutes a week.