To my daughter

 This is so me to my beautiful, quirky daughter

To my Daughter

There’s a time and a place to be brave, 

A moment when you have to fake a smile.

But don’t you worry my little daughter, 

With me is not that time. 

Hold my hand and let it stop, 

Let that laughter float away.

For you are inside this safe place,

You don’t have to pretend today. 

We can sit here together in quiet,

Or listen to the sound of your tears.

I’m here to gently remove your mask, 

To tell you I’ve done it for years.

I’ve felt the way you feel today, 

And I’ve cried the way your crying.

But inside here with just you and me, 

Its ok just to stop trying. 

Know that you don’t have to be strong, 

When we are side by side.

Be yourself my little daughter,

You and I can just go hide.

We can’t always be who they want us to be,

So let’s just be nothing at all.

Let’s just sit inside our own world, 

Without worrying we are going to fall. 

I want you to just be you, 

Without all those rules to follow. 

Just remember it’s ok to say no more,

We can deal with this tomorrow.

For now we can just sit together in peace, 

Knowing you find it hard out there,

Because I’ve been where you are little daughter, 

I’ll teach you not to care. 

I’ll teach you the world is very different,

It’ll try desperately to make you fit,

But don’t you ever bend or break yourself, 

Not even a little bit. 

To my little daughter, 

Let’s never fit in together. 

Let’s take this together hand in hand,

And just be perfectly weird together.

Where to Start! 22.2.21

 So where to begin, I ask myself! 

I have decided to start with the present day, so today is Monday 22nd February 2021, the Covid - 19 pandemic continues, it is the end of half term so the children are at home and are currently still in their PJ's and on their devices!  We are anticipating the Prime Ministers announcement today, as he is due to outline a road map out of the current lockdown BUT more importantly for us, the detailed plan for school's reopening hopefully on March 8th!

As I mentioned briefly in the 'about me' post, I have 2 children.  My Daughter, Chloe who is 9 years old currently in Year 5, she is a summer born baby so is one of the youngest in her year, and has a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).  My Son, Charlie who is 7 years old, currently in Year 2, is a September baby so is one of the eldest in his year! and also has a diagnosis of ASD and highly suspected ADHD.  As with most children with ASD, both of mine present completely differently, in how their diagnosis affects them. 

My son was most recently diagnosed in December 2020, due to the long waiting times for a diagnosis on the  NHS (around 3 years!) we decided to have a private assessment at the start of 2020, but due to Covid-19 this was put on hold, hence not being able to complete the assessment until December 2020.