Blog- Just Bring the Chocolate

40 things that the last 40 years have taught me

Published on 27th Jul 2015 by Renata

I turned 40 today, and while my children slept, and the house was gloriously quiet, I decided to spend a bit of my birthday thinking about what my life has taught me so far. Here are the first 40 things that came to mind. Growing old is a privilege that we should never stop appreciating no matter how many wrinkles we see in the mirror. If you ever want to know exactly how much you've grown over the years, a birthday age calculator can give you that fun insight! Happiness is a choice that we make each morning, it is not ...

The world’s first specialist nurse for undiagnosed children – Happy Undiagnosed Children’s Day 2015

Published on 24th Apr 2015 by Renata

You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. – Richard Buckminster Fuller Almost a year. That’s how long it’s been since I have actually clicked on a button to publish my thoughts publicly. A lot can happen in almost a year, including events that make you realise that sometimes fighting for the greater good in the public eye has to be put on hold to protect those you love. But my quietness on my beloved little blog does not mean that I have not still been trying to ...

To all the fathers of special needs children

Published on 15th Jun 2014 by Renata

Dear fathers of special needs children, I don't get to meet you that often, you're not a rare species so much as a precious one. As much as I'm conscious that there will be men who will take a very active part in their disabled child's care, the fact is that the majority of people that I sit opposite at hospital appointments are women. I do see a lot more fathers when the children are just starting out on this journey; fathers who don't have the faintest idea of the simplest baby led weaning first foods. The sense of gravity that descends ...

Post Pals: Why we look after siblings

Published on 9th May 2014 by Renata

I wrote this post for one of my favourite charities Post Pals back in 2010. I still remember lying on my bed very late at night tapping the words into my phone as Dominic slept in his hospital bed next to me and my other two children slept miles away in their own beds at home. When I wrote this we'd been apart for four months. I didn't know at the time that we'd be apart for another 4 months more. Post Pals reminded Elliot and Lilia to smile, they minded them that it was ok to have fun and ...

Shortlisted for a Brilliance in Blogging Award- Are you inspired?

Published on 1st May 2014 by Renata

All in all it has been a great week, which I'm thankful for, because I've spent most of it shut in one room with two rather smelly dogs while the builders knock down walls all around me. The destruction is a positive thing though as with each day that passes we are getting closer to having a house that Dominic can be independent in. I hope if I keep telling myself that, then the bone-rattling drilling will start to become a more of welcome noise than it is a present. I suspect this might be a work in progress though. But ...