On the Edge of High School: Moxie’s Next Big Step
This is a personal post about where Moxie is in her educational journey and all the feeings that come along with this Moxie starts high…
Down syndrome, Acceptance, and the Loneliness in Between
This is a personal post about my 14-year old daughter Moxie, about Down syndrome, ableism and inclusion. A simplified version is at the end, which…
Doing Nothing Sounds Great, Thanks
This is a personal “update” post that intersects with ADHD. This is the first time in my life that I have not wanted to travel….
3 Things I’ve Learned from Raising a Child with Down syndrome
This is not an essay about what I’ve learned about Down syndrome or my child with Down syndrome. This is an essay about what I’m…
Moxie’s Going to Camp!
Rock on! You guys are sending Moxie to camp! I could not be more thankful. Here are the series of videos that I posted for…
Aging with Cerebral Palsy
At the dentist about a week ago, the hygienist took my blood pressure before she got started. Standard procedure, right? I mean, I’m not sure…
Love Grows Courage
This was originally published on September 7, 2012. It’s a personal post on strength, love and courage. You can listen to me read this post…
Choosing Moxie
This was originally published on March 6, 2013 It is an account of the time that I was pregnant with Moxie. Please be aware this…
Almost 50, Part 2
This is a personal post that wraps up the first part, Almost 50 Listen to me read this by clicking the player below: Almost 50,…
Almost 50
I wanted this to be a personal post like hauʻoli makahiki hou – a year sum up – but in the end, the time to write…
Burning My Eyes and 2022 Goals
This is a personal post. If you want to hear me reading this, just click the link below. I literally burned the skin off my…
Disabled Parenting Series: Ellen Ladau
An interview with Ellen Ladau!
2020: Through the Muck (Year in Review)
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_style=”outline” style=”round”]This is a personal post, a recap of 2020. If you’d like to listen to me read this, just click below! [/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] 2020…
Are The CDC Guidelines for Schools Reopening Too Much?
[vc_row color=”” message_box_style=”outline” style=”round” message_box_color=”info” icon_type=”fontawesome” icon_fontawesome=”fas fa-info-circle” icon_monosocial=”vc-mono vc-mono-fivehundredpx” icon_openiconic=”” icon_typicons=”” icon_entypo=”” icon_linecons=”” icon_pixelicons=””][vc_column][vc_message message_box_style=”outline” style=”round”]This is about the CDC guidelines for schools. It’s…
MORE Fun & Highly Educational Stuff For Kids With Disabilities (and without!) to Do Inside
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_style=”outline” style=”round”]This post is a list of things of fun stuff for kids to do and that help during quarantine. It leans hard on…
Single Parents: We Better Hope We Don’t Get Sick
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_style=”3d” style=”round” message_box_color=”turquoise”]This is about single parents getting sick with Coronavirus. This is available in distraction-free downloadable PDF (and through my podcast) via my…
How Can a Parent Get Ahead When School is Always Out?
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_style=”3d” style=”round” message_box_color=”turquoise”]This is about the American school system and it’s fundamental differences with working hours and higher ed.[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The American school system is fundamentally…
Moxie is Moving!
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_style=”3d” style=”round” message_box_color=”turquoise”]This is a light, cute video post of Moxie having a conversation about her future.[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Moxie’s got some plans, and she wants to…
The 10 Year Photo Challenge: A Look Back
This is a personal post about change and learning, as viewed through the lens of the 10-year photo challenge. _____________ The 10 Year Photo Challenge…
Disabled Moms Interview Project: DeafBlind Mom Lisa Ferris
Disabled Moms Interview Project featuring DeafBlind mom, Lisa Ferris
Disabled Moms Interview Project, Featuring Stacy Cervenka
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_style=”outline” style=”round”] Disabled Moms: An Interview Project In honor of Mother’s Day, I ran an interview series with other moms with disabilities throughout the…
Book Review: “No Ordinary Boy” by Jennifer Johannesen
I am re-publishing this review of No Ordinary boy because it is Owen’s birthday. He would be 21 if he were alive today. In commemorating…
Disabled Moms Interview Project with Sandi Parsons
Disabled Moms Interview Project, featuring Sandi Parsons
Disabled Moms Interview Project: Featuring Lorna Duff-Howie
Disabled Moms Interview Project, featuring Lorna Howie-Duff
Disabled Moms Interview Project: Featuring Kari Turner
Disabled Moms Interview Project, featuring Kari Turner
Mom Talk: Disabled Moms Interview Project Featuring Pauline Victoria
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_style=”outline” style=”round”] Disabled Moms: An Interview Project In honor of Mother’s Day, I’m running an interview series with other moms with disabilities! I went…
Mother’s Day Disabled Mama Interview Series: I’ll Go First
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_style=”outline” style=”round”]In honor of Mother’s Day, I’m running an interview series with other moms with disabilities! It’ s going to be awesome. I’ll go…
When My Son Told Me He Thinks He is on the Autism Spectrum…
This is an essay about my son, Autism, and diagnoses relating to disability. “Mommy,” my eldest son said as we were driving, “I just read…
Papaya Trees, Dreams & Things
I know I just wrote a post about having a dream with Dana, but I can’t help it. I had another dream last night, and…
Searching for the Rainbow: Parenting with C-PTSD
Trigger warning: this post describes aspects of C-PTSD and pieces of the mental wellness puzzle. My daughter shrieked. It was that air-tearing, earth-ripping shriek that…
That Time When I Underestimated My Daughter with Down Syndrome…Again
I am not a newbie to the world of disability. I have disabilities myself. I have tons of friends with disabilities. I have worked in…
Moxie in 1st Grade (2 Schools, 2 IEP’s…)
This is an anecdotal piece about Moxie, a 7 year old with Down syndrome in 1st grade, and our journey this past academic year in…
Tea Collection: $15 Dress Sale with Moxie as Their Ambassador
Moxie, the Tea Collection and their amazing sale!
Self-Contained Class vs General Education: Where Moxie Is Now
UPDATE: “Special Ed vs Inclusion”: While I believe in being transparent about my mistakes and learning, leaving this post uncorrected may be confusing in its…
In Your Light: To My Daughter (with Down syndrome) on the Occasion of Her 7th Birthday
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]My daughter, when I woke up on the morning of your birthday, you were awake already. You had slipped out of your bed and headed…
Hoedown!
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It was pouring rain (like it has been for most of the past month) and the kids had an impromptu hoedown jam session! Micah on violin,…
Grow a Yogi! Yoga for Kids with Special Needs & Disabilities
Disclosure: There are some affiliate links below, but these are all products I highly recommend. I won’t put anything on this page that I haven’t…
Bike Rides & Home Study: This Week on the Lost Coast
Simple things from this week on the Lost Coast
Nobody Told Me
It’s not all peaches and cream. Adulting is hard.
A Mother Hike
A long walk on Mother’s Day helps me reframe what being a “mother” is all about for me.
The Comparison Bitch
We know we are not supposed to compare our kids. Point blank, we’re not supposed to compare them, be it compare them with their siblings…
An Update on The Best School Ever
We last talked about school when I was planning to homeschool Micah, right? Yeah? Okay. A lot has happened since then! SO. MUCH. Lonnnnnnnnnnng story…
Transformation Tuesday: Why PTSD Was Great for Me
Transformation Tuesday! Today I wanted to talk with you a little bit about the creativity and the body and how PTSD actually helped me realize…
(Down syndrome) Potty Training Diaries
(Down syndrome) Potty Training Diaries I suppose you’ve all been there – that place when you look around and scrunch your nose and SWEAR you…
42 (& The Nature of Fear)
I wasn’t going to talk about my actual age anymore. It feels limiting and makes me feel boxed in a bit. Like, you are supposed…
The ‘Momcation’
Mikey and I agreed that after my heavy solo-parenting gig of the summer and also solo-care of our chitlins during stretches when Mikey left the…
Disciplining My Daughter with Down syndrome
Somehow, somewhere along the line, I stopped disciplining Moxie the same as I discipline Micah, or rather even, the same as I disciplined Micah when…
On This Day
at this moment four years ago, I was in labor, on the ball, on my hands and knees, walking, hanging on to the door frame…
The Road Less Traveled: The Connection Between Travel & Disability & Living a Life with Moxie
This blog now seems to have an audience that is made up of travelers, people with disabilities and parents of kids with special needs/disabilities. This…
Deaf Mama Ode to Netflix (a Haiku of Sorts)
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of NETFLIX. But writing a love sonnet to Netflix was actually on my “Thing I…
Child Safety: 5 Things that Will Help Keep Your Bolting Child Safe
Child Safety: I’d like to be able to just let my kids roam freely. But my daughter Moxie figured out a way to escape recently….
…and then my heart stopped. When Your Child with Down syndrome Bolts
I had just finished changing Mack’s diaper and I was nursing him. Micah and Moxie had been watching a show on Netflix. There was a…stillness…
My Great Story & Ethan Saylor
I think my story in and of itself is a plump one. Take your pick, but most of the facets are individually pieces that people…
My Great Story & Ethan Saylor
I think my story in and of itself is a plump one. Take your pick, but most of the facets are individually pieces that people…
My Great Story & Ethan Saylor
I think my story in and of itself is a plump one. Take your pick, but most of the facets are individually pieces that people…
MacQuinn at 5 Months
My little baby with the Old Soul is all of 5 months now. I had hoped when I was pregnant with him that we’d be…
A Healthy Choice [Sponsored Post]
So the three kids were sick, and so was My Man (and I want to make a joke about what he’s like when he’s sick,…
Stream of Consciousness: Monday Morning
Catching up right here and now involves a whole lot of stuff like snot coming out of my kids, as well as raspy voices and…
From the Kingdom of Sickdom
The gods of Sick finally decided to come on down and pay us a visit. I suppose they thought it had been too long or…
A Free iPad (for your child with a disability)
We all know apps can be great with kids… but what if your budget doesn’t allow for the purchase of an ipad itself? Here are…
No Cost Options for Getting Your Child (with a Disability) an iPad
We all know apps can be great with kids… but what if your budget doesn’t allow for the purchase of an ipad itself? Here are…
Shut the Full Cup Up: First World Problems
First world problems: It’s impossible not to laugh as we remember our own chip/dip quandries of taking ourselves and our meager little lives and problems…
The Thing About Mental Health…
So, I was on the playground the other day and a mother was talking about meltdowns with me. “We’re going from meltdown to meltdown,” she…
Ode to Rice [Sponsored Post]
Rice, rice Moxie loves you so Your bright flavour just makes her glow Rice, rice I wish I knew how to cook you. **** It’s…
Soul Juice
The original title of this post was “If You Don’t Get Depressed, Don’t Read This Post” because I was depressed when I first wrote it…
The Raw Feeling of Truth, A Guest Post and Slice of Life
I’m feeling pretty vulnerable today. I am guest posting on Amy Julia Becker’s blog, Thin Places. She is running a series by women regarding their…
Choosing Moxie
I. The beginning of my pregnancy with Moxie feels jumbled, as I recollect it now, some 3 years later. It’s a blur of happenings, events…
Change, Myers Briggs and the Chinese Zodiac
I’m a double ox. Or rather, I was born with the sun sign of Taurus, in the Chinese year of the Ox. This might not…
Sourgrass
Cloverdale. The small town north of the San Francisco Bay Area which I suppose it’s true to say that I am from. Cloverdale, which back…
What I Learned This Week + All Posts + Deaf Memes = Week in Review
What I Learned this Week: 1. There is a threshold that I reach, after which I simply don’t care anymore about how high the dishes…
ASL "I'm Here!"; My Own Awesome Video; Bob Ross and Mr. Rogers' Videos + Week in Review
Before we say anything else, how about talking about how awesome it was that the Olympic drummers were lead by a deaf percussionist?! That it…
ASL Music Video, Roger Egbert's Smart Ass Cripple and Summary of Posts: Week in Review
Welcome to Week in Review, the Post of All Posts, in which I summarize the whole week on this blog. And stuff I found…
Funniest E-Cards and Best Memes of The Week
It’s Friday. Let’s laugh a little. Or rather, how about all of you preparing to attend to the NDSC Convention laugh a little while you…
Do What Makes You Come Alive
Live with moxie, have moxie! Focus on what makes YOU come alive and DO it!
Talking About Having No Arms and Legs With a 4 Year Old
Talking about physical disabilities with small children
A Week in Review: The Week Donna Summer Died
A week in review – posts covering Donna Summer, California Hot Springs, Grandby ’88 Pop Up Camper and the new International Alliance of Writers for…
Deaf Music: A Tribute to Donna Summer
We had tall standing speakers when I was a kid. When my parents were out, I’d put on Donna Summer, Live and More at FULL…
Deaf Mama Pride: Signing Like You Mean It
Micah came home from “skooWOL” the other day and was talking about his “nemesis”, a boy named something or other. Micah said, “he’s not like…
Bloom: A Guest Post Today AND Moxie and Micah Play!
Long before Kelle Hampton wrote a book called, “Bloom”, there was an awesome special-needs parenting blog called Bloom. It’s run by Louise Kinross of the…
Hearing Tests and Hearing Dogs
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Most of the time, I cannot recommend being deaf highly enough. It’s such a godsend to be able to reach up and turn my doodads…
Inclusion: What ESL and an IEP Have in Common
In my first year teaching, I had native speakers of English right along with kids who did not speak one lick of English – who…
Developing a Blog Roll
The number of parents of kids with Down syndrome who blog is simply…astonishing. I mean, really. It’s something crazy. I don’t quite understand it –…
dreaming big
Someone once said that to be truly happy in this life, you need to love, you need to be loved and you need to have…
6 Month Old with Down syndrome: Moxie Moving
I suck. Moxie’s 6 month mark came and went. My little Precious Plum has been with us in this here world for more than…
Why a 6 Month Old Baby With Down syndrome Can Benefit from Speech Therapy
You are probably wondering why on earth a baby would need speech therapy, right? I was a little kerflumexxed at the thought of a 6…
Foggy Misery and Burning Nipples
I don’t feel so hot today. And it’s because of Little Miss. who, ME? Yes, YOU! Honey, you were chomping on my boobs ALL NIGHT,…
It Was My Last Day of Work Today
Yesterday we had my goodbye party. It was really sweet of them to put it it on, especially considering that I’ve only been with that…
non sequiturs
Miriam responded to my facebook status-whine about my feet growing two whole sizes bigger by saying pregnancy is like a really really rude practical joke….
Facing Fear: I Quit My Job
This is a difficult post for me to write. Mostly because it’s so challenging for me to summon the words to articulate what I feel….
breastflowing milky musings
I wonder when I’m old and wrinkled (well, even more than I am now, that is) if I’ll remember how it feels to need to…
Love What You Do, Do What You Love
Work can be work or work can be life. Both 4-letter words, but like the other 4-letter words, ‘love’ and ‘hate’, what a difference! You…
An Off-White World
I’ve been wrapped in my off-white world for quite a while.. most of my life, in fact. You know, living abroad, traveling a lot. Making…