A short while ago I lamented about routines and staying focused. One of the things about motherhood (adulthood?) that I struggle with is the repetitive tasks. It’s no wonder my children also struggle with this! Nothing makes me feel more like a failure than knowing kids thrive on routine and not being able to keep one myself consistently. There comes a time when I feel like they should just “get” it on their own, but the reality is they’re just kids, how on earth can I expect them to!?

Ah, motherhood. It’s beautiful. It’s messy. It’s wonderful. It’s so so so hard. It’s an attachment and bond like no other. Nothing else in this world comes close, and I’m not sure it ever will.

I so wish I’d been better educated going into motherhood. I read books and took classes but it was all based on a very idealistic (ahem, fantasy) situation which in real life turns out to be so much more nuanced and generational than anything I’d ever dreamed up.

It’s seems every year I only manage to get one or two Advent posts out in the blogosphere, despite planning for way more. Yet here we are once again—it’s December 5, and…well, here’s my first post.

Between her birth story and the first in a series about hypotonia, it seems my girl is stealing the show around here! Part of my mission in motherhood is sharing the details along the way, so I think it’s important not only to share the struggles but also the progress and the wins as well. The only way I’m surviving three kids, special needs, and a pandemic anyway is all the solidarity. So, might as well pay it forward, right?!

About two months after she was first referred to PT, Olivia saw the pediatrician again to check her tone, progress, and joints. We were hearing a lot of popping and cracking, which seemed to be getting worse but she was not in pain or seeming bothered by it so we were told it’s just the tendon sliding over joints; it’s apparently common for kids with low tone to have hyper mobility in their joints.