Mother’s Day – the special needs mum’s version.
Being a mother of a 26-year-old daughter who has high support needs, my life is never dull and seldom quiet! This always presents challenges around any special social gatherings due to her unpredictability. We’ve largely come to the conclusion that anything that can go wrong generally does, so the simplest solution always ends up being family gatherings at our house.
Parenting a special needs person means I have to continually advocate for her and make sure that she accesses the services and supports necessary for her quality of life. Sometimes these conversations have been hard and not always well received, but when you are fighting for someone else you do what you know is right.
As any parents caring for someone with additional needs will relate, the logistics of anything seems disproportionate to the benefit. Take for example the Mother’s Day breakfast at my youngest daughter’s school. This needs to be organised with military precision just so I can get to school to enjoy a breakfast with other parents.
My ideal Mother’s Day would see me not woken up at the usual 5am by my daughter. I’ll continually live in hope of a sleep-in past 6am!
Breakfast in bed – also a pipedream. By the time the rest of the house has got up, I’m onto my third cup of tea, made by myself!
But my youngest daughter will be very excited to share the gifts she bought from the school Mother’s Day stall.
Mother’s Day 2024 will involve my parents and my youngest sister joining us at our house. Everyone will just bring a plate to share so at least I will have a day off cooking!
