Overcoming Parental Fears: Two Kids One Children's Museum
As a special needs parent, I have to constantly overcome my own fears. I'm going to talk about one of those today. Follow me and I'm sure you'll hear about plenty more. Today, I'm sharing my concern for taking both kids to a local children's museum AND allowing them to both have fun.
I'm sure you're thinking, that doesn't sound so hard, Lindsay. Well, when it comes to having a kid with special needs it requires a lot more to accomplish this goal. The idea has always seemed overwhelming to me and just slightly out of reach. I'm being honest here - don't just too harshly please. There are stairs, and lots of falling hazards, and mean kids (yes I know those are everywhere), and more falling hazards, and obstacles she isn't able to do on her own just yet, and the potential for heartache or rejection. I could probably go on and on, but I'll assume you get the idea.
I don't know what happened last week but it hit me - one of my jobs as a parent is to help my kids overcome their fears in life. Help them see failure is ok and how to recover. How can I set the example and ask them to model my behavior when I don't do that myself? How can I expect them to be brave or daring when I'm not.
So I did it. I decided to take both kids to a children's museum in town. I knew they would want to go in opposite directions and that I would have to figure it out, in turn allowing them to figure it out. I was truly scared of this outing, haha.
Here is the result:
Be Happy. Laugh. Enjoy Chaos!
I'm sure you're thinking, that doesn't sound so hard, Lindsay. Well, when it comes to having a kid with special needs it requires a lot more to accomplish this goal. The idea has always seemed overwhelming to me and just slightly out of reach. I'm being honest here - don't just too harshly please. There are stairs, and lots of falling hazards, and mean kids (yes I know those are everywhere), and more falling hazards, and obstacles she isn't able to do on her own just yet, and the potential for heartache or rejection. I could probably go on and on, but I'll assume you get the idea.
I don't know what happened last week but it hit me - one of my jobs as a parent is to help my kids overcome their fears in life. Help them see failure is ok and how to recover. How can I set the example and ask them to model my behavior when I don't do that myself? How can I expect them to be brave or daring when I'm not.
So I did it. I decided to take both kids to a children's museum in town. I knew they would want to go in opposite directions and that I would have to figure it out, in turn allowing them to figure it out. I was truly scared of this outing, haha.
Here is the result:
Olivia off by herself, wheelchair at the bottom of the picture, and playing with other kids. And me with baby C, in the little toddler area about 100 ft away. I was able to see her the entire time but was not right there to help her. She fell a few times (and the parents around looked worried - until she popped back up), she asked for help a few times too (and I always feel bad about that too - putting a burden on another parent), had 2 encounters with pushy kids (to which she said "hey, that's not nice", haha) and ultimately she had a WONDERFUL time!
Outside she even played with her brother at the water table.
While there were some hard moments, I am very glad I took the chance and allowed both kids to explore, play, and grow! We'll be back, I'm sure!
Be Happy. Laugh. Enjoy Chaos!
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