Another Monday?

A humorous look at life with a child with special needs.

By Pat Linkhorn

The bus has stopped at my house three days this week. Logic tells me that it must be Wednesday, but the way things are going, it sure seems like Monday!

The parakeet was dead this morning. The new baby sitter called and said she was moving to Texas on Friday. (I knew I should have hired the second one I interviewed.) My youngest is still saying she has the flu because her left shoulder and her stomach hurt. I found a thumb tack under the mattress of the kids waterbed. And some of the things in my refrigerator are not only growing, but beginning to move and form communities.

The swimming pool is still up, the dog has fleas, the vacuum cleaner wants a new job description as a coat rack and my oldest used the last roll of toilet paper to wrap up the cat.

My kids do have their problems. My husband doesn't understand me. The phone rings off the wall at the most inconvenient times. The world is not an oyster. I don't have all the answers. Monday, Monday. The world goes on.

Tomorrow will be another day. (I hope it's not a Monday!) My kid's will still have their problems. I can hope that Texas will disappear so the baby sitter will have to stay.

But as I sit here and ponder the situation, I realize that my life is happy. I can laugh about things. I can remember when laughing was not a part of my day and I can tell new parents who have children with disabilities that their days will improve. They too will have days when their biggest problem is that it seems like their third Monday that week. Days when the differences are minor. Days when they forget that their children are different because life does go on.


Pat Linkhorn is a professional advocate for families with children who have special needs. She is the author of Off the Fence : Disability Advocacy. She is also experienced parent and has two girls with special needs - autism and blindness due to prematurity. Visit her website.