Well, goes to show you that we never know how our days and nights will pan out. Sydney did not go to school today, instead we were being interviewed for a newspaper article of which I’ll give out details in a couple weeks. She described her costume in detail and even went as far as to show the reporter her cat tail and ears. Excitement and anticipation was looming throughout the house and as the sun started to fade and the pumpkins started to light up the costumes were being put on and the fine whiskers were being drawn. We went outside for a couple traditional pictures and all was fine until…the traffic of fairies and princesses and phantoms and knights started to grow and Sydney’s brother started to show some new home Halloween anxiety himself and Sydney began to fall apart. At first there was the chaos of Sydney’s brother not having his glasses on “just right” and then as he proceeded to get more frustrated and kids were coming to the door Sydney began to retreat inside the house. As Ehren was in tears on the doorstep, Sydney got spooked by a little ghoul and that was it for the night. No trick or treating would be done by my little cat. Instead, her and I are camped out on the couch eating popcorn, answering the occasional doorbell and watching, “Return to Halloweentown”.
Just after dinner before all the craziness began I had an opportunity to zip through our local paper and I noticed a fantastic article about the pressures of being a perfect parent. Here’s a quote from the article that I completely took to heart:

“But most importantly, I have learned that we’re not better people because our children are perfect, but exactly the opposite…we become better people and parents when our children and plans are not perfect. When our child throws tantrums, has a lousy report card or has special needs, then we start to learn. The beauty, skill building and learning can be because of the struggle…not despite it.”

That gave me great hope and faith that despite our everyday trials and tribulation Sydney is indeed growing stronger with each hurdle she faces and so am I. It wasn’t until the last year that I’ve learned how much drive I have and how loud a voice (figuratively not literally) I can have when advocating for my daughter. So for all of you who thought that life would just be easier if everything was smooth sailing be rest assured that everything happens for a reason and we’re all stronger for that. Happy Halloween to those of you who are out on the town grabbing some good ol’ candy and for those of you like me sitting with their little devils and kitty cats enjoy them and know whatever we do does in fact make a difference.

For the full article please go to http://www.miltoncanadianchampion.com/news/article/216385