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    Ellen Seidman

    Ellen Seidman

  • How to keep the faith about your kid with special needs

    It's hardest when your child is very young and you're still accepting that he has special needs. So much is unknown, although you're well aware of every single risk. You wish docs would just tell you what's going to happen, but they can't be sure. You want to have hope, but sometimes anxiety overpow

  • User Post: Mommy stuff that will not kill you

    • Subsisting on a diet known as Finishing Up What's On The Kids' Plates or its counterpart, Eating Extremely Old Goldfish I've Found In My Purse.• Running out of the house with sopping wet hair in the dead of winter.• Being forced to repeatedly watch The Wiggles/SpongeBob SquarePants/iCarly/[i

  • User post: Do parents of kids with special needs deserve a day honoring them?

    So, Congress is going to be considering a National Special Needs Parents Day. I just mouthed off about it on my blog, Love That Max, and most of the consensus I got from readers also falls into the "Hell, no!" camp. This is for various reasons: Because a lot of us think any money that would be funne

  • User post: Top reasons moms of kids with special needs ROCK

    Top Reasons Moms of Kids With Special Needs ROCK 1. Because doctors have told us the worst, and we've refused to believe them. TAKE THAT, nay-saying doctors of the world.2. Because we've discovered patience we never knew we had.3. Because we are willing to do something 10 times, 100 times, 1,000 tim

  • User post: If you were us, would you have a third child?

    My husband and I are so on the fence about having a third kid. It's not an easy decision for many reasons, but especially because we have a child with special needs. Max, who's 7, has mild cerebral palsy. There are strong reasons to have a third child for his sake, and strong reasons not to. OK, I'l

  • User post: Confession--Sometimes I wig out about my child's future

    I am sitting in the food court at Whole Foods. I occasionally come here to work during the afternoon, when it's impossible to get stuff done at home with the kids there.A woman's cleaning the tables. She has Down syndrome.

  • User post: Words of inspiration to moms of kids with delays and special needs

    The hardest part of having a kid with special needs: the early years. You grieve. Why did this happen to my child? Whywhywhywhywhwy? You want to know what the future holds for your child. You want answers that don't exist. You want to know if things won't be so bad. You want to know what limitations

  • 14 reasons I'll never be one of "those" moms (aka, perfection sucks)

    It occurred to me, recently, that I am not a perfect mom. I am far from a perfect mom. I just might be the opposite of a perfect mom. Given that my kids have not sued me, and they seem to be turning out OK, I am guessing that being an imperfect mom is perfectly OK. A glimpse at some of my more imper

  • User post: Victoria Skinny Beckham is not a good role model for little girls

    I'm sitting here watching the debut of American Idol and getting totally distracted by how freakishly skinny Victoria Beckham looks. Especially considering that the camera's supposed to add 10 pounds. I mean, there's skinny-a lot of women are naturally so, of course (that would not be me). And then

  • Confession: I was glad to go back to work after maternity leave

    This is my Max when he was 7 months old and supremely chunkalicious. I loved him to pieces, but I also needed to be separated from him. He had a stroke at birth and ended up in the NICU for two weeks. The rest of my maternity leave was largely spent taking him to therapists and doctors. I was depres

  • User post: So, what do you think about homeschooling?

    Homeschooling doesn't seem like the sort of thing that would stir up legal melodrama, but that's exactly what happened in a St Charles, Missouri case. Lisa Payne-Naeger and husband Jeff Naeger started homeschooling their two kids, now ages 14 and 16, in 2001 because they were both disgruntled with p

  • User post: Please don't be afraid of my child with special needs

    This is my little boy, Max. He's six.

  • Top 10 Things I Swore I'd Never Say To My Kids (But I Do)

    10. "Because I said so!"9. "You. Are. In. BIG. Trouble."8. "If you have that ice-cream, it'll ruin your appetite for dinner."7. "Because I'M the Mommy!"6. "One more word and you're not getting any birthday presents."5. "Let me get that booger."4. "Don't ask why! Just do it!'3. "Finish what's on your