Back from Sacramento!!!!

Oh what a wonderful weekend it was in Sacramento at the NDSC conference. There is just something so amazing about being surrounded by sooooo many people with down syndrome. I love going to these conferences because people are so kind and accepting and it's "normal" to be there - with no one staring (except to say how cute the kids with ds are). I don't think people who don't have someone with a difference in their lives notice how much it stands out to other people.

At first, Brady having T21 really stood out for me, and I noticed it all the time. As he has gotten older, there may be days that go by that I don't even think about it - because Brady is just Brady! But, whenever we go out - it is always apparent that other people in stores, at parks, in restaurants DO NOT see Brady as Brady - but that the fact that he has T21 is the number one thing they notice. And the stares - wow - there are lots and lots of those - and by kids who barely seem old enough to notice that he is any different.

But, at the NDSC conference there was none of that ;) Just families and people with T21 in all shapes, sizes, hair colors, skin tones, and abilities. Two hotels full of people who "get it" :) It's a wonderful experience!!!

And - I got to meet up with a bunch of online friends - and it was WONDERFUL!!!! Most of them I'd met before, but one friend from New Jersey, a kindred spirit, for sure, Stephanie, and one from California, Beth, I was meeting for the first time. Yet - within this community of wonderful women that I have known online since Brady was 3 months old, there are no awkward moments upon first meeting, no feeling of not knowing the person - it's almost like coming home and meeting up with an old friend who lives far away. It's almost like having 25 sisters :) I LOVE it!!! It was so fun to meet Patrick and Katie, and watch Emma, Chloe, Katie and Jennifer play - I love these kids! It was so fun to see everyone - and in some ways I wished I had taken Brady, but in others, it was nice to be able to just sit and visit and go to the conference sessions without having to worry about what he was up to :) He's a busy little boy, afterall :)

It was great to see presenters who are "the" people in the T21 community, to get new ideas, to feel a feeling of "community" and know I am not alone in some of the struggles I face with education and behaviors. It's kind of like having a weekend of General Conference - I always come away with a new sense of determination and direction from General Conference, and I feel the same way about every Down Syndrome conference I attend. While General Conference fills my spiritual bucket, down syndrome conferences fill my parenting-a-child-with -differences bucket :) I have some new ideas, some things I want to try, some things I want to change about the way we are doing things.

I love Brady so much and I want what is appropriate - oops - I really mean BEST for him. So - I'm off to make some materials, to switch up the way we do things, to read a couple of books and to get to work!!!!

See ya all soon!!!!

p.s. I left my camera home so my family could take pictures of Little K's soccer tournament (which they didn't - grrrrrrrr) sooooo no pictures from the conference, unless my friends email me some - pretty please?????