Simple Advocacy-Day Fourteen

CONGRATULATIONS!  

You've made it through Fourteen Days of Simple Advocacy!   

Let's count 'em down beginning to end:

-Tell your child that you love him/her, no matter how rough the day, complete with hugs.
-Educate yourself about your child's diagnosis.

-Express gratitude.

-Contact the media.

-Express yourself.

-Sit still.

-Spend one-on-one time with your kids without special needs.

-Learn the law.
-Laugh often.

-Focus on the present.

-Organize your child's records.

-Pay it forward.

-Call a family meeting.

Simple Advocacy-Day 14: (drum role, please!)

Count your blessings. I know, you hear this all the time.  It sounds trite, but it can be remarkably effective.   It's true that you do not need to look very far before you will find someone who has it worse than you do.  As I've traveled the country and spoken to countless families, I've been humbled, amazed, even brought to tears by the tremendous challenges many families lovingly take on daily, including parenting more than one child with significant special needs.  Counting your own blessings has a way of making everything seem just a bit more doable, and worthwhile.  It gets easier with practice.

So before your head hits the pillow this evening, take a moment to reflect upon your day.  Then, in your mind or in a journal, record one thing that your child accomplished today that made you proud, no matter how small it may seem.  Small steps now lead to bigger future gains.

Learning to live with gratitude is a powerful life lesson that can change the quality of your life, and that of your children.  Now, on to facing even bigger advocacy issues...  

Yes, you can!

JudyWinter.com

Breakthrough Parenting for Children with Special Needs: Raising the Bar of Expectations
MySpace.com/judy_winter