Additional Needs
Age Appropriate
by Jodi Shenal
on 26th April, 2024
Special Daddies
This is something I had growing up and I guess I just thought this would be the best for my children.
I guess I also planned to have a child who could live a normal life not have complex health needs.
Neither of these things happened for me. I was blessed with a child with complex needs but that caused tensions within our normal family relationship.
When everything didn't work out with mine and Ethan’s dad I soon realised it didn't matter that we weren't together.
All that mattered was that Ethan had both a mum and a dad who loved him very much.
Being a special needs dad is a full-on job.
Ethan needs round the clock care and he is incredibly lucky to have two very special dad's in his life.
Ethan’s dad won't mind me saying but he hasn't always found it easy to have a child with special needs.
It's not what he had planned for his child either and it's taken longer to find his rhythm as a dad.
This journey has bought him to be an amazing dad who loves his son for who he is and not what he should be.
Ethan adores his dad and they have a special bond.
Ethan spends every other weekend at his dads and his dad comes to put him to bed at ours once a week too.
They love going for day trips out for adventures, having splashy baths and his dad still carries him everywhere to include him in as many normal things as he can.
Being a single mum to a child with complex needs I thought no one would want to take us on as a package, but I could not have been more wrong.
I have found an incredible man who took to being a step father instantly.
He has never seen Ethan as anything other than just that, Ethan.
They love wrestling together, watching Star Wars and running around the house chasing Ethan’s sister.
He is the first person to meet us at hospital when there's an emergency and he takes time out to come to appointments.
He is the biggest support for us and we wouldn't have gotten this far without his support.
This may not have been the way I planned things for all those years but I could not be more grateful that Ethan has ended up with two incredible dads who both adore Ethan and have two very different but special bonds with him.
I love watching Ethan with both of them and how he giggles at all their special unique ways with him.
