The first 18 months of our lives with the twins Sienna and Scarlett has been a period of adjustment.
I feel that’s a slight understatement, let me rephrase that, it has been more like jumping on the fastest and turbulent ride on a theme park, then occasionally jumping on the carousel going round and round and getting nowhere, and every month going to visit the physio at the local hospital, which is a bit like a clinical soft play of crash mats, peanut balls and wedges; whilst there they mention some new equipment.
I am instantly intrigued by the physio telling me about this new world of equipment that exists in our local children’s loan store, like a locked up toy store for local SEN families.
The day has finally arrived our first of many ‘new equipment day’, a brand new postural support system for daytime play and activities to help both girls, it comes in a new packaging each piece so delicately and cleverly designed to support the girls comfortably all day.
I knew it had been on order for a month, I googled it, shown my family excitedly, made space in our front room toy collection ready for this to come.
As I set it up that day as shown via the physio I felt so odd, all these raw emotions come flying around in my head, this is our new normal get used to it, this might help them, this might make no odds at all, this might be the start of a beautiful world was not my first thought.
But it is exactly what I think now.
As each new piece of adaptive equipment arrives in the house I am now excited and stay excited for weeks.
What new equipment does is open up a world of opportunity, a world that without this equipment would otherwise be inaccessible.
They can sit upright to see the world like the rest of us but we can rest easy they have the right amount of support, each piece of equipment serving a different purpose.
We love every new piece of adaptive equipment like it’s a new fairground ride coming to the theme park we call our home.
Funny how a year can change.
This weekend we walked into a restaurant for a Sunday roast, armed with two GoTo Seats asking for a table of 5 to dine out with our little family.
Clipped our seats onto any of the dining chairs, we carried on like any other family. Carrots were chucked on the floor, gravy smeared upon their cheeks, all 3 girls impatient for ice cream. We rely on the adaptive equipment to make simple everyday things possible!
The adjustment gets easier and our perspective changed once we realised the freedom it gives our girls, new equipment day is now like Christmas come early.