Monday, November 16, 2009

I Think This Dad's Got It

Jennifer over at Three's a Charm posted an article today that really hit me. In a good way.
It's an article written by a dad who has a 36 year old daughter with Ds. His name is Rick Dills. I love his way of thinking and attitude. I've been stressing over what school will be like for Em, where will she go. Will she go to a "regular school" or a special one. Will she be happy. I mean everything is so easy with her now. But as she gets older I do realize that will change. Her needs will change and I know people who Ooh and Ahhh over her now might shun her in a few years. How will I handle that? Probably like a wild bear but that's another post. Anyway here's a bit of the article...


My observation is that satisfactory adult outcomes do not correlate with how hard you have pushed your child, but rather on how you have taught them to be proud of who they are. Setting the bar too high prepares both parents and the child for failure.

Now go read the whole thing at Jenn's


8 comments:

my family said...

I totally understand I always thought " what happens after the sweet,cute baby stage?"I realize it all wont be easy but we just take it one day at a time and stressing over it takes away the fun time we are having now.

Heather said...

Saw this and loved it.How amazing it is that we have once again the voice of experience,someone unselfishly sharing, to listen to and learn from as we go forward each day with our little perfect blessings.

Denise said...

OOhhhh, I like that quote. Gave me the chills. I will have to go and check out the rest of the story. Thanks for sharing.

Kele said...

Just read the article... of course I copy and pasted it into an email to Mike immediately, as I LOVED IT! Thanks so much for sharing Steph!

Emily said...

I read that on her blog today also and loved it. I too have the same fears. Justin lights up a room right now and everybody can't get enough of him... but I know that will change. I loved the article!! Thanks for re-sharing!

Tina said...

Thanks for posting about this story, just went over and read it and wow it really makes you stop and think about what is important in the long run. Really liked how he put it across, its great to get the perspective from someone with alot more experience behind him.

Lacey said...

wow what a great saying. I'll have to go over and read the rest!

Scrappy quilter said...

He spoke words of truth. As a mom with a young man (19) who has DS, I totally agree with everything he said. I learnt we take one day at a time and learn from our kids every step of the way.

One thing I will say was I was not prepared to let him go and give him wings. If we could only have done that earlier...learnt how to do that earlier, it would have helped tremendously in the transition. it was VERY, VERY difficult!! Hugs