For you, mama, on a special needs Mother’s Day
By Natalie Roberts-Mazzeo
A shock diagnosis.
Another night in hospital trying to sleep in between your child’s cries and beeping machines.
Walking the hallways of your home with an unsettled child. Another missed milestone.
Sitting in a pre-op hospital ward, drinking coffee out of styrene cup.
Making a call to a new specialist and having to explain your child’s complex condition whilst trying to remove any emotion, so you can get the task at hand completed without tears flowing down your face.
Reading another soul-crushing medical letter.
Fitting AFOs to tiny feet.
Re-fitting a feeding tube.
Another equipment trial.
Comforting your child through a seizure.
Lifting your child as their legs dangle beneath them.
A 3-hour drive to the hospital through the rain.
Another long phone call wait to link services.
Worrying for your child who doesn’t have additional needs.
Coming home exhausted after a long day at the hospital and taking a deep breath before you start to cook.
Blending food for your child who cannot eat solids.
Making sure your non-verbal child can learn to communicate through sign or similar.
Attending therapy 3 times a week, and constantly looking for more to help your child reach their full potential.
Collapsing on the bed at night and letting the tears flow.
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Sometimes it can feel all too consuming, that our entire life revolves around hospitals, health issues and constant worry.
So as we approach Mother’s Day, I would like to remind you of your incredible mama heart.
This is such a beautiful and sacred time to deeply honour the Divine Mother in us all.
The qualities of unconditional love, compassion, wisdom, beauty, gentleness, patience, accepting, forgiving, nurturing, welcoming, kind, intuitive and healing are carried by this loving and healing energy of the Mother.
We may not have chosen this particular type of motherhood experience, but in some ways it chose us.
So this Mother’s Day please take time to deeply honour the work that you do. Let’s celebrate the chaos, the laughter, the mystery and the miracles. But most of all today, lets celebrate you.
Natalie is a proud mama to her two beautiful daughters, Grace and Chiara. Her youngest daughter Chiara suffered a stroke and has been left with a serious brain injury, which has altered the the life of her entire family.
Her motto is: ‘Be realistic, plan for a miracle’.
