That is the question the psychiatrist asked me today.
You have your youngest who pushes limits and senses by verbal and physical action, and you have boys with autism who don’t tolerate the sensory input.
“Don’t all children deserve to be loved?” was my response. “Isn’t it worth it to see them smile and return a hug? ”
We are met with daily challenges, heck, any parent is. But as parents of children with special needs, our daily challenges are a cut above the rest. Do we hesitate? Do we turn tail and run away? No. We embrace the challenges and welcome the new day. We welcome each new day with the hope that there will be a breakthrough of some kind that will allow our child to have a glimmer of success that they might not have had before this.
As parents of special children, we also know that every day is a success. Every opportunity to be with our children, to see them grow, to delight in the little miracles of their day is a special treat. It beats the largest bonus that we could ever hope to get in the corporate world.
As WhyNotFathers.com celebrates its first month of existence, we say thank you to those who have helped mold us to be the people we are today. We say, “extend a thank you to all of those special kids in our lives who show us that what we are doing is worth more than any wage.”
To our kids, thank you, seeing the joy in your triumph is like celebrating a thousand sunny days. To our wives, thank you for trusting your job to us. Thank you for your faith in us.