december daily: day 7

I struggled on whether I wanted to include the story below in my december daily. I could've easily documented a photo of my girls and nephew goofing around, or my parents beautifully decorated holiday home, or the holiday cards that I'm in the middle of creating. But this story kept coming to the forefront. It's a reminder for me even though it doesn't paint a pretty picture. And that is my exact reason for including it. Because life is not always pretty and perfect. Far from it actually. 

For some of you that have been visiting this space for the past couple of years, you may know that I have a daughter with a special needs. She has this innocence that is like no other. She trusts with all her heart, accepts people for who they are and is hilarious even when she's not trying to be. She continues to teach me how to advocate for her on a daily basis. She is not one to show her emotions or ask for hugs, you just need to know when to give it to her. And when she does ask, we stop everything because those times can be rare. She is one of those kids that prefers being alone at times but loves her family time intensely. We need to make a constant effort to make sure that her emotional and social needs are met.  

My journaling documents a challenging evening but rather than retell the story and make it about us...what it really comes down to is about me. About parenting, making better choices, and listening.

If you read this far, thank you for letting me share a little more about our life. 

[supplies: basic gray patterned paper, bazzill vanilla cardstock, anna griffin tape, october afternoon journaling tag, ali edwards digital brush (Yesterday & Today class), queen & co. pearls]

Comments

[Lee Currie]

Good for you. I love authentic albums, they make everything so much more real and engaging. Love your project so far!

[Amy Kroeger]

Your layout is beautiful. I think your idea of documenting what you are learning is a great way to incorporate these real life stories in a positive light. I think it also makes your album overall more honest. I applaud you, I think years from now you will be glad you included these kinds of stories.

[glee]

This is amazing, beautiful, heartfelt and so important. I think what's marvelous about the whole DD community is that a page like this is next to a page about a Santa visit. And that they all share equal weight and are valid, loving and gorgeous. As a parent, every Christmas I am in tears over the whole baby Jesus thing because God knew what that little boy was in for...and so did J. And yet, they did it for us anyway! God bless you.

[Denise]

Your journaling brought tears to my eyes. I can tell by your words that you are a great mom. Even great people make mistakes and the great thing is they're learning opportunities for the next time. Hugs to you.

[ArlaMo]

Your journaling is so appropriate for any parent of any child! Thank you for sharing your beautiful page and heartfelt thoughts.

[lisa truesdell]

sendings hugs and love - i think we've all been there. this is beautiful.

[Pamela Young]

This is fantastic! Great job!