Kiddos

Our Kiddos

From the founder, Brian Mengini:

As parents, naturally we cherish our children. We teach them, watch them grow and hope they become happy, healthy, productive members of society. Frequently, in the hustle and bustle of our lives, we take certain things or milestones for granted – they are simply a natural part of the growth and development of our children. We acknowledge them to ourselves and move on – job well done.

Parents of special needs children rest our hats and really live our lives for those milestones – those moments or pinnacles that our children work so hard to achieve: things that just happen for most typically developing children.

We cheer and sometimes cry with joy when our 7 year old son wears a polo shirt for the first time in four years. We are moved to tears or are simply elated when our child can sit quietly and comfortably in an assembly without covering their ears or having a meltdown. We sigh in utter relief when our child is finally able to make eye contact or sustain touch to the point they are able to hug a family member.

I bore witness to one such event at a photo studio I was working at:a mom experienced “a milestone” with her child in the lobby right in front of me. I had to leave the floor as I was getting emotional simply because “I got it!” What an amazing experience that was for me!

To most on the outside, this seems to be an unfathomable way of life and they wonder how we do it, especially every single day.The short answer is, we just do. As a friend once said, “as opposed to what?” As parents, we simply do our job to get our children the help they need so they can move forward and lead a life that is, hopefully, both happy and productive. It is just what we do. We are parents so we parent!

I am not going to lie and say it’s easy or we don’t have “those days” where we ask “why,” because they are there. One of the greatest challenges in raising a child with special needs is to remember that we are not only parents, but people too and, sometimes, it is just really really hard to get through the day. Over time, we learn to accept that it is OK to have “those days”, it reminds us we are human.And so move forward and take it one day at a time. That is all we can do.

At the end of the day, I feel our children teach us so much more then we teach them. We all consider ourselves truly blessed for the children we have and what they give us.Each and every one is unique and special.

Thank you kiddos – this section is for you!

Let us hear your story!

email us at kiddos@dominicsdreams.org