The McClintic Family
Est. 2010
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This goes out to all the parents who have had to put their trust in a therapist to help their child fulfill a dream.

I was recently thinking about my profession as a Doctor of Occupational Therapy and became overwhelmed at the level of impact we are capable of having on children.  I go to work everyday but I don't have a job, I have a passionate mission.  I found myself sitting teary eyed during a meeting and went to refresh in the bathroom.  I ended up writing these thoughts down on the trifolded brown recycled paper towel.

I am a mom of a child with disabilities.

A disability that has health related problems that could result in death.  I am scared that one day my daughter's heart will skip too many beats, that she could get leukemia at age seven, or that she will not remember to look both ways before crossing a street.  I know that I will likely outlive my daughter in age.  Therefore, I am on a mission. 

A mission with a vengeance. 

I want to be able to give my daughter every single chance to smell every rose imaginable; all the way from Holland to my very own backyard.  For me personally, this means painting my daughters toenails, piercing her ears, taking swimming lessons, licking an apple, and even sharing a large spoonful of cool whip. 

You don’t get nine lives, you get one......One without do overs.

As a mom of a child with disabilities you can’t think of tomorrow, but are forced to think of today.  I just may get lucky enough that God will sprinkle some fairy dust on my daughter and grant her more years than even the doctors gave her. 

As a parent of a child whose life expectancy is in limbo, you need to know that you have done everything in your power to make sure every flower was sniffed.  You don’t do less because of this fear.  

You do more. 

At night I don’t lay in bed and say, “Wish we woulda…..”  Instead, in the mornings, I wake up and say, “We have 12 hours to do everything we shoulda.”

If reaching for one block is the most my child ever does today then I have done my job.  Tomorrow, she’ll grab two and bang em together!   

As a parent of a child with disabilities, if you decide to give up on her, she knows this and feels this.  This is why parents, no matter the circumstance, choose to move forward, even if the path is short and narrow. 

When I have been blessed with the chance to help a child, I view this as a rare and golden opportunity to become a guardian angel.  

And yes, I absolutely must fly with it.



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