I think when you have a special needs child, there are two roads you can go down. The first road is denial and the second is acceptance. I believe in taking the latter. We could sit here and say, "why us? why does our family have to have a child with special needs???" My question back is why not us?? I totally 100% believe that Dominic was given to us for a reason. I know one reason was to make me not so darn rigid about everything. I like my order, if something changes, I don't always adapt well. Dominic has taught me that not everything is predictable and orderly. He does something spontaneous everyday!! My son has always been affectionate. He shows us unconditional love. When he comes home from summer school, most of the time he won't get off the bus until he gives me a kiss :) The bus driver told me he even gave her a kiss on her cheek! Lauren, Dominic and my stepson get along like typical siblings, which warms my heart. They both accept Dominic for who he is. My husband gets a kick out of telling people he has a son in elementary school. He is easily old enough to be a grandfather. Dominic's eighth birthday is today. When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday dinner, he told me he wanted meatloaf. He also put in a request for a yellow cake with white frosting. I guess I need to alert the kitchen "staff!" I know that I am blessed that he has come so far and can't wait to see what the future holds for him!!
We are heading towards 600 orders for Dominic's business. Since our long-term goal for Baked Goods By Dominic is having a "brick-and-mortar" and hire those with disabilities, it is essential and imperative that I continue to teach him all parts of the business. Since I prompted Dominic for so many years for speech, he has become "prompt dependent." What that essentially means is that he will look at me for a prompt, like, "what do you do next?" I do that one a lot. Dominic has been going to a private speech therapist for over ten years and she reminds me often that Dominic usually will know the answer, if I am patient and wait for him. That has been a very hard habit to break! Dominic has an incredible memory, so I put it to the test this morning. I didn't write out the steps, I wanted to see how much he could do completely on his own. We have a customer picking up his order today, but the only thing that had been done is putting the cookies into t...
He is in your life so you can be the best mother in the world to him. He is the lucky one. Such a special charmer. I am sorry I didn't get to see you all when you visited the area in July. A special Happy Birthday from Auntie Penny to my special great nephew,
ReplyDeleteDominic.
Thanks for the compliments. You are an awesome mother and an amazing "Auntie!" Thanks for the birthday greetings for my boy :) We'll see you next time!
ReplyDeleteYellow cake is easy to make from scratch. That's why I like to make it.
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