In preparation, Sweetheart and I focused on two things I learned at the weekend retreat for moms of special needs kids with Rising Above. These two things came from a mom whose two little boys won SIKids SportsKids of 2012.
The first: When you're thinking about whether or not you should travel with your special needs kid - Just do it. As parents of special needs kids, you worry about taking them out of their routine. You stress about making them stressed. And logistically speaking, its just a TON to deal with and my family doesn't even face the same physical challenges as they do. Just do it.
The second: Instead of thinking (obsessing) about the latest therapy, the best diet, AM I DOING ENOUGH? I need to change my thinking to how can we best enjoy Little Handsome as a family? This shift in thinking changes everything. The list of cannots is replaced by a list of how can we live our lives (with therapy, etc) in the most fun way possible for every member of our family? I can truly say this has been the best summer. This statement has radically changed my perspective of our situation. I mean it - radically.
Back to the Vacation Visual Schedule - we knew we couldn't take our big pocket chart with us cause that would be ridiculous and I wanted a vacation too, thank you very much. Enter our daily flyers. Some things are just so clearly God's idea.
We decided each day we would enjoy no more than one or two activities. Either at breakfast or in the car before we left for our destination, we'd pass them out. Handsome can't really read a map at all, but he loved looking at it and would act like he was navigating - so cute. And of course Ladybelle had to have one too.
We knew what those would be before we even left and I think we had maybe two extra in the event we needed to do something else. I used Pages on my mac (Word for PC) and simply dropped pics from the aquarium (train station, etc) into the flyer templates. I created a short little note since Handsome is starting to read and included a map from Google Maps on the back, laminated it and boom - daily flyer. I even had one for the house we were staying in for the ride there. It had Chattanooga at the top so Little Handsome thought for the first couple of days that the house's name was Chattanooga. I mean, so good, I can't write this stuff.
Do yourself a fave and watch this short little video about the SportsKids of 2012 - brothers - one typical, one with cerebral palsy. Their mom was just so down to earth and a kindred spirit to hang out with. Click here to watch the video of the Sportskids of the Year 2012 if you don't see the video below.
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