Janet's Blog

We don't get to see our youngest granddaughter as often as we would like, because she lives with her family in Ohio. Little Anna Elizabeth is 13 months old, and Anna is truly a Little Person. Anna She was diagnosed with Hypochondroplasia, a rare type of short-limbed dwarfism, when she was just a few months old. When doctors suggested, even before she was born, that she might have dwarfism, Erin and Reed passed it off as another misconception about their family's relatively small stature. None of them are tall people, and both Erin and five-year-old Will were always near the bottom of their respective growth charts when they saw their doctors for well-child checkups. Doctors had voiced similar concerns before Will was born, but he does not have any type of dwarfism; he is just small for his age.  Will, Erin, Anna, and Reed Anna, on the other hand, has been in and out of the hospital since she was born, first for breathing issues, and then for focal seizures, which are manifested...

These Kids Are Driving Me Crazy is a book for adults who work with kids with neurodivergence or mental health issues. It is currently available on Amazon in Kindle ebook format as well as paperback. I started the book several years ago, soon after I officially retired from teaching. However, as long as I was homeschooling my son, Levi, I didn't have time to  concentrate on writing this book. It was much simpler to publish my first children's book,  Grandma Whatcha Doing? , which is also  available on Amazon. I decided that the Covid-impacted winter would be a good time to buckle down and finish writing the book I abbreviate as  Crazy! --as in   "the thought of actually finishing this book is driving me crazy!" When my church invited me to participate in a book signing earlier, I was motivated to have this book ready, too.      Life is all about building relationships, but that can be hard to do in a school or extracurricular setting, or even at ...

Today marks the 37th anniversary of our first miracle baby's birth. Happy Birthday, Erin! Bill and I married young. It was important for me to finish college, so we decided, from the outset, to postpone having children for five years, or so, until I was thoroughly educated, and we were both a little more ready to be parents.  We never expected to wait for eight years. From the time we were first married, we discussed being foster parents, and even expanding our family through adoption, but we expected it to be through choice rather than necessity. When it became evident that we were having trouble conceiving a baby, we saw several doctors, and eventually a fertility specialist, three hours away, in Grand Rapids. Some of the doctors were more helpful than others. A couple of them told us outright that our chances of having a baby naturally were slim to none, and we should just adopt. That was a problem in Michigan, where we lived then, because the average wait time to adopt ...

Over the years, I've taught kids with many different abilities and challenges. I know lots of parents with kids who have special needs of one kind or another. I understand, first hand, what it's like to be such a parent, because Bill and I have been raising two such kids of our own. It isn't always easy, but none of us want your pity. To tell the truth, we don't really want to accept your praise, either, because we are all too aware of our own shortcomings. Even the best parents struggle at times, and parents of kids with high needs often struggle-- often ! Even though we don't want your pity or your praise, most of us covet your prayers, because we are very much aware that we can't begin to give our children what they need without a lot of help and guidance from God. We also long for understanding. So, today I'm asking you to cut us some slack! Disclaimer: Although some of the following examples involve my children and me, I've witnessed or he...