My Son With Down Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy Can Do Hard Things

They say a picture is worth 1,000 words and this picture definitely is. However, I could easily write more than 1,000 words talking about this kid and his grit, strength, and determination. It’s not easy, for either one of us, with each day seemingly bringing its own unique challenges due to his diagnoses which include cerebral palsy and Down syndrome. However, by far my favorite part of being Kaleb’s mother is getting a front-row seat to watch him take each step and continue to push forward.

Today he decided that he wanted to take a walk, so Kaden and I told him to lead and we’d follow. As he would slow or stop, we would ask which way he wanted to go, to see if he was ready to head back. For an hour he kept adamantly gesturing forward. So onward we went.

We have a big hill in our neighborhood and Kaden and I kept whispering that surely we’d turn around before we got there, that there was no way he’d go that far. Then it became a conversation about whether we are going to let him try if he gets there. Then we got there. Once again he very pointedly let us know we were going to keep going. As Kaleb began the climb up, Kaden said, “You know, I think he made this walk for this hill. I think he wanted to take on this hill.”

I don’t think he had that big hill in mind when we began the walk. However, when Kaleb got to the hill, as he has done with everything in life, he saw it as just another part of the path. Just part of the next step. Kaleb seems to go through life each day as if saying, “Watch me. I can do hard things.”

He topped the hill and continued on. He had to stop every few steps towards the end and I could see how taxing it was on his body but he kept pushing on. He walked our neighborhood for 62 minutes. It took an hour to do what the rest of us would have done in a fraction of that time, but he did it. He did what he has never been able to do before. He once again took the word impossible and said I’m possible.

Just like Kaleb didn’t have the big hill in mind when he began, we didn’t have parenting a child with disabilities in mind when we began parenting. However, as his mother, I will keep pushing onward and upward and take it one step at a time. All the while getting to cheer on Kaleb and be there to remind him that “Yes Kaleb, you can do hard things.”