Thanks to an adventurous friend, I recently discovered several beautiful parks near Wilmington Delaware. I found irony in it, though. For the past two decades we ventured to that area, south of Pennsylvania, for the girls' appointments at DuPont Hospital for Children. The drive is about an hour for us. We typically high-tailed it home after doctor appointments. We found it funny to willingly head south along I-95 for Wilmington, Delaware. Nevertheless, on an overcast day we set off to check out Alapocas State Park and the Can Do Playground. We planned lunch along the Christina River and a stop at the Russell Peterson Wildlife Refuge. *I should note that this was during Covid-19 precautions. Immediately the forest at Alapocas beckoned us in. Just as quickly, we also found ourselves a bit lost! The most stressful part of our day was, in fact, finding parking at an accessible entrance to the Alapocas Park trails. We started by heading to the Can Do Playground completely underestimating the size of this state park. Fortunately, all was not lost when we found the Continue Reading
Wheelchair costumes ready to go!
Trick or Treating is getting a lot of attention this year as people decide how to go about it safely. Honestly, it was always complicated for some of us. I never knew more about the accessibility of our neighborhood until we started taking the girls out for Halloween in their wheelchairs. Rocket ship Wheelchair cover I may be late to the game here, but I just discovered that Target offers some ready-to-to Wheelchair costumes. This would have relieved some of the stress for us, so I thought I'd pass it along. (I can't be the only one that takes it on the day before...or can I?) I see they are currently taking 20 percent off once in the cart. Pirate costume for wheelchairs Looks like Disney got in on the act, too! They are advertising new markdowns: Cinderella wheelchair costume Enjoy! And share a photo in the comments if you have a great Wheelchair costume idea! Continue Reading
Where I was on September 11th: so much more than a location.
A new and different horizon Many say they will never forget where they were when the twin towers fell. So where was I on September 11th? That day changed more than the skyline That morning I went to an appointment with my friend who ran a massage therapy business out of her house. I thought it may relieve some stress. Two year old twins affected by cerebral palsy (plus 8 and 5 year old typical daughters) left me tired. It was extra exciting because I was also getting my hair cut. It was a real "Mom's morning out" extravaganza! As we finished our time in her shop we began to hear gasps and sobs from her living room. When the appointment ended she went out to see what was going on. She found a friend, a New York transplant, watching the news on her TV. She was too scared to watch alone and had come over to be with someone. Before long I joined them in front of the TV...so confused by what we were seeing. Once I gathered myself together I headed for home. But first I stopped by school to see if I should take my children home. It really felt like Continue Reading
Endurance (or How families affected by disability have a leg up during the Pandemic)
It's been a tough year thus far. I don't think there's been another year that became an adjective, a negative one at that. "Ack, it's so 2020!" Even more depressing are the headlines about how the Pandemic is negatively affecting those with special needs. Evidently, we are not "all in this together" as we were told back in March of 2020. If your family is faced with disability challenges, then I suppose you realized that pretty quickly. This past year I started a habit of telling myself "I'll process that later” and just simply continued moving ahead. I tried not to think or feel things too deeply. Ahhhh, coping mechanisms. Last month my daughter texted me some thoughts and validated that my spring had been stinky. She also suggested I try to find someone who could unpack that with me. And, while I MAY "process that later", it already brought me comfort. Somehow the simple acknowledgement that MY spring (during these times when we were apparently “all in this together”) WAS rough made my endurance feel validated. Most likely yours was pretty lousy, Continue Reading
How to print a pictorial grocery list in minutes…it’s a game changer for our daughters.
The girls always enjoy having a purposeful trip to the store. Coincidentally, I always have trips to the store...not necessarily enjoyable. Over the past decades we learned to head inside with a deep breath and a prayer. I know that the girls will want to assist with the task. They will want to find certain items to add to the cart. Subsequently, I can guarantee they'll go rogue when it comes to the list. Next they'll get distracted in the aisles and take out a few people with their wheelchairs when they lose focus. As a result, I have ten extra gray hairs when we leave. But we do it anyway. Life skills. Entertainment. The Pandemic of 2020 changed how we do our grocery shopping. For a few months I was the only one, the designated shopper, who went into grocery store. Thankfully, the girls understood the fears and stopped asking to join. By early summer I realized that my attitude towards getting groceries had changed and I dreaded the whole ordeal. Although a little late to the game, I finally tried ordering groceries online for curbside pickup. I love Continue Reading
Getting the wheelchairs to mountain tops (in the Lehigh Valley PA Appalachian region)
High atop Hawk Mountain You know by now the girls are driven to be out and going. And conversely, they are NOT pleased to be home and sitting still. This Pandemic is just a magnifier of that struggle. We continue to look for out of doors areas to visit. I don't know all the latest "facts and figures" but it SEEMS safest to be outside. But that is not always the easiest way to go with power, or even manual, wheelchairs. The two recent flash floods didn't add to our convenience, either. So when the girls wanted a field trip to send a caregiver off to college with style, I found something new to do about an hour drive from us. As is currently normal, you need to grab your masks for public areas. Map to Cabelas in Hamburg PA If you are from the North East you are probably already familiar with Cabelas sporting store in Hamburg Pa. Some people enjoy the store as a field trip destination in itself. They have different backgrounds in the store of large and small game that have been preserved among a faux backdrop of the great outdoors. As one of the largest Continue Reading
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 10
- Next Page »
