Steady Mom

Special Needs Parenting--Is There a Simpler Way?

Photo by woodleywonderworks

A question from a reader--

Jukie wrote:

"I am a stay at home mother (Australian) of 2 kids. One is 2.5 yrs and one is 9 months old. My quest is to find a way to raise my children simply when one of them has additional needs.

My first born beautiful girl has a genetic condition which predisposed her to learning delays. My struggles are based around weighing up a desire for simplistic, back to basics, honest, mindful parenting with the requirements of early intervention therapies (Physio, OT, speech, etc) and educational programs.

What do you give up? Certainly not the therapy, the music program which is sooooo much fun and the highlight of all of our weeks, play dates? Too hard to choose so we end up out of the house most mornings of the week. Which in turn leads to compromises in other areas of my parenting (diet!) that I would like to put more time in to not to mention the shortness of my temper and hers!

Perhaps you or some of your readers have some insight for me?"

Getting Children to Sleep

Photo by D. Sharon Pruitt

A question from a reader--

Megan asked:

"I need some sleep advice. My 21 month old son has really only ever gone to sleep after nursing. It wasn't a conscious decision to create that routine, but no other method seemed to work.

He's not nursing during the day anymore, just at night, but it is still several times during the night. My milk supply seems to have dwindled to almost nothing, so those night feedings are more uncomfortable than they used to be, and we're all just not getting enough sleep.

We had been cosleeping, but recently, my son starts in another room in a full bed, and then ends up in our bed by the morning. When we've tried having my husband attend to our son when he wakes up crying at night, the crying continues for quite a while. Any ideas?"

Balancing Time with Multiple Children

Photo by Cherice

I'm taking this week off from Steady Mom. Instead, we're spending the week asking and answering questions.

Here's one from Rae:

"How do you balance time between two (or more) children, especially small ones?"

Share what you do to find time for multiple children!

Any Questions? About Mothering, Homemaking, Education, Life?

Thanks to those who shared ideas about seeking peace together. I'm going to give it some thought and come up with steps we can take to give each other a little support. Will announce that soon.

I'm stepping away from the blog next week, as I busily work on a few other writing projects. I'm choosing peace over productivity by not trying to do everything--something has to go, and it can't be my peace or my beautiful family. So the blog it is.

I considered leaving this space empty for a week, but then the idea came to open it up for questions.