Changes

Over the weekend Brian and I took the girls down the shore for the evening. We live under an hour away from the beach so jetting down to the beach for the night is something we do a lot. Before the girls were born our tradition was drive down with the windows down and the music blasting, get there are go get Mack and Manco's pizza (a local fave), go on some rides then finish off the night with Kohr Brothers ice cream. Now that we have the girls our music is a little softer and our windows are a little higher. I can live with that.

The part that really sucks is the other parts. Because of Abby's food allergies paired with her anxiety over food getting pizza and ice cream is a thing of the past. This weekend as we sat in McDonald's (because even a food allergic kid deserves a treat) I thought about all of the changes that these kids have brought to my life. Not just the ones I expected but also the ones you never saw coming. I figured I would be like every other Mom buying their kid an ice cream cone. I thought pizza would remain a staple in our diet. I thought wrong.

Then we hit the boardwalk and we have to talk the whole way through it because Abby has trouble with the loud noises. She also has trouble with some of the flashing lights and the smells. She definitely loves the boardwalk but she can't enjoy it the way most of us can. It's hard for her to stroll and enjoy it all. Instead she rides in her stroller so she can cover her ears when she gets stressed.

Life with children is definitely a change. Life with a special needs child is even more wrought with change. I guess it is our job to do our best to keep up with her and try to make her experience as "typical" as we can.