Happy New Year!

It has been awhile since I have posted. Sorry about that. Life has been a whirlwind of activity the past 2 months and it has only continued into the new year, but I resolve to write more often.

One major change in our life is that we moved. You may be asking, what does moving have to do with raising a child as a mother with a disability? Well, a lot actually. I’ve moved several times thus far in my adult life and it’s always a challenge for me to adjust to a new environment.

The challenges I face, just to name a few, when moving into a new place (as you can tell by now I like organized lists):
1. the feel of the floor under my feet affects my balance.
2. getting used to a new floor plan (specifically the kitchen and dining area) and moving about and doing tasks in the most efficient way without expending unnecessary energy. For example, getting an item out of the refrigerator, oven, or microwave and having somewhere to place it quickly before I drop it. Then preparing a meal and getting it to the table in as little trips as possible but without dropping anything on the way or losing my balance.
3. getting into/out of and balancing in a new bathtub/shower. Not all bathtubs are alike to a physically disabled person. There’s the height and width of the tub, the position of the toilet in relation to the tub, the slipperiness of the bottom of the tub.
4. the slope of the driveway and the ease of getting into the house, especially with bags of groceries.

And then add caring for a child in a new home to all of that.. It really does take me awhile to get used to and to feel comfortable living in a new environment. But I must say that I love our new home and I have plans to write an entire post just about the kitchen at some point.

Childcare

I don’t think anyone enjoys trying to find childcare for their child. It really is a pain. But here I am, once again, trying to find childcare. *sigh* And... once again, it’s urgent.

Reasons why it has become a challenge:
1. finding someone with space available for her age
2. finding someone to watch her part-time
3. finding someone to watch her as early as 6:45am
4. AND, what makes this even more complicated, is that I am not able to get her into the car to take her. So...

We have to work around my husband’s schedule so he can drop her off in the mornings on his way to work. I think I would be able to pick her up from childcare, after I get off work (I only work part-time), if the provider is able to put her in the car for me because I can take her out of the car once I pull into the garage. The frustrating thing is is that my husbands schedule varies from week to week and is never consistent, which makes giving a childcare provider a schedule impossible.

Of course, then there is the obvious fear, and one that brings me to tears, is the thought of dropping Kiana off with a complete stranger to trust to care for her as I would.

Ideally I would prefer Kiana to only be in childcare 3 days a week. This would reduce the cost of childcare and, most importantly, Kiana would be home with us. In a perfect world I would be a stay-at-home mom. I think IF we have another child, I will stay home because the cost of putting 2 in childcare is ridiculous.