I appreciate everyone around me who supports me and makes a positive difference in my Special Needs world and who allow me to be a full time working parent.
I don’t say it often enough or show just how much I appreciate you all but I really, REALLY do!
Thank you – Jay, my wonderful husband, and best friend.
Thank you for my son, my blue-eyed wonder who clearly gets his intelligence and stubbornness from you.
Thank you for holding me up when I am weak and appreciating ME as a wife and mother. You are both my world and I love you both dearly.
Thank You – Grandma, at almost 70 you are so full of light, love, and laughter. You are the head of the family.
Thank you for looking after Cameron after work, for food preparation, for the washing and cleaning you do to ease the load. Thank you for feeding the fish, even if it is too much.
Thank You – Mum, the woman that “gets it!” the most – who has raised her own special needs child and who is a pillar of strength.
Who will offer to attend every hospital appointment and who carries the weight of not only worrying as a mother but worrying as a nana also.
Thank You – Chrissy & Ruby, my beautiful sisters. Thank you for all the school runs and collections. For loving my own as if he were your own.
For all the MacDonald’s and treats – for all the days out when Cameron is included without any hesitation.
You both have your own lives and your own struggles but your support eases my own.
Thank You – my best friends….. Michelle, Holly, Vicky, Leanne, Boris, Jay. You are the people that know us as a family is our rawest form.
Who witness our parenting triumphs and disasters!
Who are on WhatsApp at all hours for anything I need – who know the perfect reply GIF or Meme.
The people who we get to look forward to spending time with knowing that all your children are the most grounded and loving little humans who embrace and accept Cameron for his quirkiness and sometimes overly frank honesty when I imagine others would say “don’t play with that kid – he’s rude”!
Thank You – School Club (BOSC). You have had such an active role in raising Cameron with us since preschool.
You helped me understand his needs in the days before he could effectively communicate.
You taught him about sharing and interacting with other children and likewise making the other children accept him for the way he is and to be patient with him.
As he now approaches secondary school and towers above the little ones that he once was – it is bittersweet for me that yes, he has grown in ways I could only bream off and realistically he will probably not be with you for much longer.
Thank You – St Paul’s Primary. From the very first day I handed over my small 3-year-old for a preschool session when he could hardly talk.
To now preparing him for his SATs and actually being quite optimistic that he has a chance.
Thank you for listening to my concerns and addressing the issues and doing the BEST to support my child through his primary years.
And last but by no means least… Thank You – Cameron.
Thank you for your love, your bravery, your resilience, your efforts so far in your 10 years of life. Thank you for making me smile every single day.
I hope that one day when you are old enough to want to read all these blogs you look back on these years and all the people mentioned above with fondness.