World Down Syndrome Day–Celebrate with Me

Do you know what today is?

Today is the ONE international day of the year that is dedicated to building awareness to Down Syndrome.

What questions do you have?

I am open about our experiences and am happy to share what I know about parenting a child with Down Syndrome.

The International Down Syndrome Coalition for Life (IDSC for Life) recently asked the question “if you could go back before you had a baby with down syndrome, what would you say?” on their Facebook page.

It made me think.

What would I say to myself? Or to any mother that just learned their baby has Down Syndrome?

I would say…

You will forget your worries when your baby takes that first breath – after months of worrying that he wouldn’t be able to.

You will learn that love has no boundaries and just how unconditional love can be. That just like an innocent toddler, you won’t see a disability. You will see your child for who he/she is – YOUR baby – and that Down Syndrome will not define who they are.

You will become their biggest cheerleader and they will be yours as well.

(No, the color is not off in the picture. Yes, my kid is orange. His favorite food was carrots and he started to look like one. :) )

You will learn that they will do just about everything kids their age can do….just at their own pace.

You will learn to appreciate ALL their triumphs, especially the small ones instead of try to make them grow up too fast.

And take tremendous pride when they take all the small steps and attain the big goal that others thought they couldn’t achieve.

You will find out that this smile can make you forget just about everything bad that happened in your day.

You will enjoy that he admires you and wants to be like you.
(He is pretending to take my picture while I was taking his )

You will want to make his life as “normal” as you can to give him the chance to be a “typical” child. He doesn’t need to be treated differently, he doesn’t need to be babied (though you will want to keep him your baby forever), and give him room to be himself.

A diagnosis of Down Syndrome does NOT define who Cody is or what he will be when he grows up. I’m pretty sure he is going to be something GREAT when he grows up.

He can walk in a room, flash his smile and light up the room.

He doesn’t see kids with disabilities and think any different of them.

He can grow a Cody Fan Club everywhere he goes because his smile and personality just draw people in.

I want to be like him when I grow up.