Dear Mom of a Child With a Disability, Happy Mother's Day!
On Sunday morning, mothers across the United States will wake up to celebrate Mother’s Day. I don’t know what your day will be like, but if you parent a child with a disability, it is possible your day may look like a little different than the day of an “average” mom.
Perhaps your nonverbal child cannot say the words, “I love you, Mom,” but you know with his smile you are the center of his world.
Perhaps you will spend the day in the hospital, praying and hoping you have enough strength for you and for your child. And as you sit by the hospital bed, you will know there is no place you’d rather be than by your child’s side.
Perhaps you will be administering medications, knowing this is something you do to make your child healthy and feel better.
Regardless of what what your day turns out to be, I hope you know how much you are worth and how much you deserve to be celebrated.
Nobody else knows your child’s medical history better than you do, and you have most likely educated a few professionals along the way.
Nobody else advocates for your child the way you do.
Nobody else knows how to comfort your child the way you do — how to make your child feel better simply because Mama is there.
Nobody else has the determination and commitment to fight insurance for medical interventions and medical equipment your child needs. You don’t give up. You are admirable.
Nobody else recognizes the magnitude of the smallest milestones your child meets. Nobody else celebrates their life and accomplishments the way you do.
Nobody else is as committed as you are to make your child’s world more accessible — even if it means physically carrying your child so they will get to experience the beauty of a mountain top or the feel of the ocean waves.
Nobody else loves your child as fiercely as you do.
It’s you, only you, Mama.
All the lessons you have learned along the way, all the strength you’ve gathered, all the ways in which you now better understand unconditional love, and kindness, and the value of life — all of that is what makes you the wonderful mother you are and exactly who your child needs.
Happy Mother’s Day from your friends at The Mighty.
Getty image by CharlieAJA
Ellen Stumbo is the founder of Disability Matters, an organization with the mission to encourage every church to embrace disability. Ellen is a national speaker who focuses on issues pertaining adoption, faith, disability and parenting kids with disabilities. Ellen writes for several online platforms including Focus on the Family, LifeWay, MomSense, Not Alone, Mamapedia, Group, The Mighty and the Huffington Post. Her writing also appears in several book anthologies. Ellen blogs at ellenstumbo.com and you can also find her on Twitter and Facebook.
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