Before I became a mom at the young (and slightly immature) age of 21, I didn’t wear many hats. I didn’t have too much responsibility, and I didn’t have anyone to care for besides myself. But that all changed when my sweet son was born. I quickly realized that I needed to get myself a hat closet.
As moms, we wear many hats.
We wear the teacher hat – we are constantly correcting, educating, and growing our children’s minds. We wear the chef hat – we make three meals plus snacks per day for our children’s growing bellies (and let’s be honest, most of it ends up on the floor). We wear the nurse hat – we kiss their little “boo boos” and give medicine when needed. We wear the chauffeur hat – we are always driving our kiddos to and from those endless team practices and games. We wear the housekeeper hat – we are usually the ones in charge of the cleaning of the house, and making sure our family has clean clothes to wear by keeping up with the laundry. We wear all of these hats… Every. Single. Day.
Special needs mommas, like myself, wear all those hats PLUS some.
We wear the researcher hat – when our kids get diagnosed, we have to study and learn everything about their condition, so that we can do our best to help. We learn all the medical terminology and how to use the complicated medical devices they need. We wear the best friend hat – because as much as I hate to admit it, many of our kiddos tend to be left out. We become their biggest fan, cheerleader, and supporter. We wear the therapist hat – we have to not only learn, but execute the treatment plans from occupational, speech, physical therapy and more. And the most infuriating hat to wear (in my opinion) is the advocate hat – where we always have a mound of paperwork large enough to ski on, and have to fight everyday for our kids to get the services and support they deserve and need.
And in addition to balancing all those hats a top our heads, we do even MORE.
For myself, I am a special needs mom, wife, business owner/children’s book author, an employee, a writer, and a University of Cincinnati student.
Today my hats are firm, straight as an arrow on top of my head. But other days, my hats are wobbly and about to completely plummet to the floor. No matter how your hats are hanging on, strong or by a thread, I want you to know that I am proud of you. You are doing everything you can to raise those sweet babies of yours in a happy, healthy, and loving environment. Wearing all these hats can be overwhelming, trust me, I know.
Give yourself grace. You are an incredible momma and are working so hard for your kids. One day when our kiddos are older, we won’t own so many hats.
But for the meantime, you, my friend… need to get yourself a hat closet.
