Truth be told I don't think what I am doing, have done with her, is amazing. I am just a mother, doing what she needed to do for her child. Parenting a child, even a child whose development is normal, is never an easy task. I know many amazing mothers, some have children with bigger hurdles than others, but they are all amazing in their own right.
I certainly don't feel I can accept all the credit either. Could I have done this without the continuous ongoing support of my husband? No. I don't think I could be as "amazing" as I am without him. I think I would most probably be huddled on the floor in a big heaving mess without him.
He is like the backstage crew in this crazy show of ours. He isn't the lead actor. He isn't at all the meetings with therapists and teachers. He won't always speak up about Alice's issues when people ask us questions. But he's there. In the background, holding me up, holding Alice up and providing us with the unwavering support we need in order to keep the show going and he's amazing.
I don't know many things for sure, but I know about amazing fathers. I had one myself growing up. A father who I knew adored me, who always had time for me, who made me feel special. Thank god my beautiful girls got an amazing father too. Especially Alice. Matt is truly the amazing one with her. He accepts her for all that she is, more than I do if I'm honest. I feel so much frustration some days with her...why can't she just stand still, why can't she walk normally, why does she have to dance around all the time, why won't she just answer me? Matt...he looks at her and you can tell he is just in awe by how her brain works. I really truly feel that not just any father could parent a child like Alice and do it so well.
He is the same with Maddles, he finds it so easy to interchange with them both. While I struggle to parent each one because they are so different, Matt embraces it. He is our rock and I don't know where we would be, where Alice would be, if we didn't have him. I am certain he doesn't get the credit he deserves. It's hard for him too, it's hard watching his daughter struggle with certain things, it's hard coming home to a wife who is sometimes so mentally drained she doesn't really have time for him. It's probably even harder yet that he can't attend meetings, can't talk to the teacher daily about how Alice is going - he hears all his information second hand from me. I know that would drive me insane and I know he loves her just as much as I do.So this is me, not just sharing the credit, but handing it over. I couldn't do what I have to do every day without everything he does for me and for the girls. Here's to amazing parents, whatever the situation of your child, it's a hard slog. More specifically this blog is dedicated to amazing fathers - especially Matt. Our rock.
