Posts in perseverance
Foggy Brained Ideas from a Tired Caregiver

Sleep deprivation is part of the parenting gig. New moms are easy to spot with their top knots and coffee tumblers. A safe bet is the top knot, make up free, coffee tumbler toting woman you see has not slept in weeks. She is wiped out. 

Lack of sleep does all sorts of wacky stuff to the body. Short term effects include cognitive impairment, inability to concentrate, drowsiness, and top knot hairdos. These side effects explain why early phases of parenthood are a blur. 

For caretakers of an individual with disabilities, seasons of sleep deprivation can extend well past a decade. My daughter did not sleep consistently until puberty. 

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sleep, perseverance, CaregiversKim Albrechtinspiration
Five Winter Survival Strategies

Stocking up on bread, wine, and toilet paper are legit snow needs in the Midwest. Dangerously low temperatures close schools because pipes freeze, buses can’t start, and kids stick tongues on flag poles. 

Remember the polar vortex of 2014?  Anyone? It was so cold people complained the air hurt their face. 

The journey with our special needs loved ones will occasionally take us through seasons of winter. Maybe “winter” is no sleep, advocacy, hospital stays, or all of the above.

 

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community, perseveranceKim Albrechtinspiration
Keeping Cool in the Carpool

My special needs daughter was the cause of many disrupted car pool drop offs when she was in grade school. When she did not want to comply, she did what was coined as “the plop”.  The plop consisted of all 90 pounds of a 10 year old girl completely limp on the ground.

We had occasions where she would plop in the middle of the crosswalk.  

I kid you not.  She would plop smack in the middle of the street. 

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perseverance, grace, Caregivers, schoolKim Albrechtinspiration