Count Me In

We are at the point in our house where Sesame Street is some of the most frequent entertainment found on TV. Lydia LOVES Elmo and Grover (am I the only one whos heart strings are pulled when Elmo says he loves you at the end of his segment, maybe its because of my time as a teacher and knowing that for too many children in this world Elmo is the only one telling them that he loves them) and Jilli love to watch any episode where there is someone in a wheelchair.

A frequent song on Sesame Street is one at the end of an episodes called "Count Me In" and it talks about including everyone. Jilli loves this song.

A couple of weeks ago I got a message from someone about a birthday party that we had been invited to. The message asked what they would do to include my kids in the party. I held back tears as I read the message. It was someone wanting to make sure my kids were counted in at this party and as a mom that means so much to me. Sadly do to scheduling conflicts we are not able to go to the party (for some reason lately I have been really bad about remembering to actually put things on my calendar and then double book us) but still the fact that someone asked how to best include the girls means the world to me.

I feel like more I have had to fight for the assumption of competence for Jilli, mainly with the medical community. Not the doctors on her immediate team, but when we are in the ER or admitted to the hospital I often feel people see the wheelchair and oxygen and think she can't do anything. Both of her large hospitalizations this year I had people assume that her laying in a bed staring at a wall is all she does and didn't understand why I was pushing for her to do more before she left the hospital. Its frustrating and it hurts my heart when people don't assume competence.  

Often life is little adaptations. All too often we discount people's abilities and don't count them in. Often times all that would be needed to include someone is something small and I can tell you that while it might be something small it is a huge gesture to the family of the person you are including.

Thank you for the people who count the girls in. Thank you to the people who include them. Thank you to the people that understand that it might me doing something a little different but that the act of you including them means so much to us. We might always be able to attend everything and sometimes there are just things that don't work, and we fully understand that, but I am so thankful for the people who choose to invest in others.