In promoting the 'Don't Call Me Mum' initiative and asking practitioners to #CallMe, I often hear the excuse that a hospital professional is simply too busy. It is easy in the bustle of the hospital ward to mistakenly regard the details as unimportant. Like the panoramic view of any hospital stay might include the admission [...]
What is easy about a weekend? I often get that Monday feeling on a Friday afternoon. It marks the start of me juggling the expectations and responsibilities. The struggle to rest, relax, have family time and 24/7 care. The Commodores classic 1970’s hit song, Easy like a Sunday morning, was a song on a jazz [...]
It’s the summer holidays. It has rained a whole of two days and siblings around the country are complaining about the most mundane things. Like, “MUM! He’s looking at me funny. Tell him to stop." My eldest brother used to complain I breathed too loudly whilst he was watching the TV. He certainly used to stare [...]
Is it just me? Or does anyone else feel like they are desperately trying to keep their house in order whilst stopping themselves from falling over the edge? I’ve always enjoyed living life a little on the edge. I love travelling and feeling like the foreigner. I’ve even been known to eat something that is a day [...]
When I worked as a nurse in A&E, I knew that even in the middle of emergency procedures, how I treated the patient and family would be remembered. As a parent standing over my fitting son while the doctors fought to stop an hour long seizure, this simple fact went from theory to reality. As a healthcare professional [...]
As much as I love the summer, I’m glad it is autumn. It's time to collect conkers and pick the last few blackberries. Although I will miss the brighter days and warm sun on my face, the summer is my toughest season.
"Grown-ups write letters to the council all the time but nine-year-old boys don't," I assured him. "We all need to say what we think is right, no matter how old we are."
It is a common phenomenon for parents of children with complex needs to hear 'No' from professionals and councils. A universal experience is our need to fight for our children.
Life changes when you become a mum, even more so when your son has a disability. With any baby, normal run of the mill activities become calculated missions of precision and specialist equipment. Leaving the house takes two hours of planning and a boot-load of accessories. Going on holiday requires upsizing your car and is suddenly [...]
Parenting a disabled child gets a bad press, so here is my Top 11 advantages to parenting a disabled child but there are many more.
