• You compare ER’s instead of grocery stores.
• You compare your child’s oxygen saturations.
• You view toys as “therapy”.
• You don’t take a new day for granted.
• You teach your child HOW to pull things out of the cupboard, off the bookcases, and that feeding the dog from the table is fun.
• You cheer instead of scold when they blow bubbles in their juice while sitting at the dinner table (that’s speech therapy), smear ketchup all over their high chair (that’s OT), or throw their toys (that’s PT).
• You also don’t mind if your child goes through the house tooting a tin whistle.
• You fired at least 3 pediatricians and can teach your family doctor a thing or two.
• You have been told you are “in denial” by at least 3 medical or therapy professionals. This makes you laugh!
• You have that incredible sinking feeling that you’ve forgotten SOMETHING on those few days that you don’t have some sort of appointment somewhere!
• You get irritated when friends with healthy kids complain about ONE sleepless night when their child is ill!
• Your vocabulary consists of all the letters OT, PT, SP, ASD, VSD, ISFP, etc.
• You keep your appointment at the specialist even though a tropical storm is raging because you just want to get this one ever with…you waited 8 months to get it…and, besides, no one else will be there!
• Fighting and wrestling with siblings in PT.
• Speech therapy occurs in the tub with a sibling.
• Potty training is complete, you take out a full-page public notice in the Washington Post.
• The doctors/specialist/hospitals, etc. all know you by your name without referring to your chart.
• You keep a DAILY growth chart.
• You calculate monthly statistics for the number of times your child vomits, and did this for more than one year.
• You phone all your friends when your child sits up for the first time, at age two.
• With a big smile on your face you tell a stranger that your four year old just started walking last week.
• His/her medical file is two inches and growing.
• You have a new belief…that angels live with us on Earth.

This was sent out on a WS email list that I am on and I thought it was good enough to pass along. Hope you enjoy and get little giggles out of it like I did.

LOVE LOVE LOVE