I am a mother.

 am a mother.  My jobI is grossly under-rated.  My education never ends.  I'm currently perusing several masters degrees at one time and I may never "graduate".  I'm under paid and under-appreciated.  No one notices all the things I do, but they always notice the things I don't.  I work all shifts; over-time every day and all night too.
I have several "bosses", the cutest bosses in the world:)  I have boogers on my shoulder most days.  I own a lot of yoga pants.  I know more about all the story lines on Dora and Sesame Street than any other show on TV.   My job is not glamorous at all, but it's wonderful and a privilege that I don't take for granted.  

I am a mother and one of my children has special needs.  There are different challenges that come with raising a special child.  It requires an entire skill set of its own and sometimes.... OK, most of the time; I feel completely inadequate, but I'm doing the best that I can learning with every step on this journey. 

I am an engineer.  I can pad anything, anytime anywhere.  I have extra socks an towels in my bags and you would be amazed the uses for socks and towels..  Stick me on a desert island with little more than socks and towels and I'll survive....maybe throw some duck tape in too.  I have made bath chairs out of yoga mats and plastic lawn chairs.  I have made bolsters and laterals out of anything.  I have a drawer full of old bathrobe belts and ties of all sorts; those are like gold in my house.  Need a foot strap or a way to fasten padding to arm rests to prevent bruising?  I'm your gal.  I have modified walkers, standers and wheelchairs with socks and ties....seriously, these are life essentials.

I am a hair stylist, an expert in home hair cuts with no training; massive tangle disaster relief like you have never experienced.  I have tried every hair product and type of brush there is. 

I am a body builder and stunt woman, I can lift things that I can't really lift several times a day every day.....even when I'm 9 months pregnant with a toddler on my hip.

I am a functional insomniac, functioning on little to no sleep most of the time.  

I am a wiper of tears, a cleaner up of messes.  A catcher of vomit (hey it's true), a wiper of noses and bottoms.  A personal chef, a catcher of falls and a mender of cuts and bruises.  I am the one they take out their frustrations on and the one they cuddle up to after they are done being frustrated.  I have to dish out some tough love and feel guilty about it; and spoil them and not feel guilty about it.

I am a teacher, songwriter, completely non-artistic artist, statistician, researcher, neurologist, lawyer, physio therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist  nutritionist, advocate.....

I can always find a way for my child.  I do not accept that there is no way.  I will make a way, I am a builder of roads.  

I am a mother. I am the mother of a child with special needs.  That's right; a child WITH special needs; not a special needs child.  She is a child first, a person first.  I will modify the world for her as long as I live.   I will travel anywhere, do anything.  I am a finder of ways.

I am a mother.  This is what I do.  This is the hardest job in the world and I wouldn't trade a single second.  Being a mother is the hardest job you'll always have.  It's wearing your heart on the outside of your body forever and taking many punches to that heart.  It's sleepless nights and thankless days.  It's being under-appreciated and over-extended.  It seems almost impossible at times to do what mothers do, but we manage somehow.  We pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off and we must acknowledge that we will stumble and we will make mistakes. It's ok not to be perfect as long as we keep trying.

We are mothers and we know that when we cannot find another answer, then the answer is just to love them and roads will come from that love.  

I am a mother of a child with special needs and I BELIEVE and I don't care if someone says it's impossible because I know impossible is spelled I'M POSSIBLE.  

I am a mother and I am stronger than I even realize, but my Daughter is stronger.

I am a mother and my Daughter is my hero.