When I was pregnant, I was hoping for a healthy little baby girl!
I had those images in my head and in my heart. My daughter and I walking, chatting, going to the book store and sitting around a coffee shop with our books and magazines. My baby would turn into a beautiful young lady, polite and respectful, she would love me the way I love my mom. We would go shopping and we would travel the world together…. She would probably dance, be really good at school and grow-up to be an amazing woman…
After Emily was diagnosed, I had to fill some paperwork detailing her handicap / her disability. I looked at the form, all she could do was see and hear… She was severely affected physically, mentally and her gross & fine motor skills were non-existent… I knew I had to sign the form and send it to the government but I sat there and looked at it for days…. I didn’t want to admit it to myself.
Emily didn’t die when she was diagnosed but my dreams did! All of them were shattered!
Regularly I had to go back to those calls that changed my life and remind myself that I could do this, that all I had to do was look at my daughter for who she was not for who she could have been. I had to adjust my dreams.
November 2012, my husband, daughter and I traveled to Bermudas! While at the Fairmont Hamilton, I noticed they were offering afternoon tea… Emily likes tea, her Nana introduced her to tea.
I asked Emily if she wanted to come to afternoon tea with me. Explained that it would be like pretend tea but for real….. we would pick our tea and tiny sandwiches, we would wear our pretty dresses and try to drink tea with our pinky up… She agreed to try.
I reserved a table, we got all dolled up, said goodbye to daddy and we went for tea!
Most people looking at us saw a mother-daughter (and a doll) having tea. I saw a dream, a dream I wasn’t even allowing myself to have anymore. Emily picked a jasmine butterfly tea and I can’t remember what I picked. We took both trays of sandwiches and every other little finger food they would bring us.
We tried everything, some things she liked while others she didn’t. She had an opinion, on the tea and the food. She had an opinion on the live music. We had small chit-chat and she tried drinking with her pinky up… We laughed!
I discretely wiped tears from my eyes….. I didn’t want Emily to see how happy I was, I didn’t want to confuse her.
Sometimes, our dreams are so big, so far away that we can’t imagine getting there…. I had given up on this dream of enjoying a beverage with Emily while talking…… When it happened, I was speechless. I wanted to hug her and tell everybody around us how special this moment was but I didn’t. It was our moment.
I do have that daughter from my earlier dreams, she is polite, she adores me, she is beautiful inside and out. She is determine to learn and work hard on learning to read and understand math.
But the most important thing is that she is herself and has opinions…..
Do you allow your kids to be themselves and build their own opinions? Do you allow them to be kids and to dream?
Find more about about Cri du Chat syndrome at 5p- Society
Emily has a her own page in the family stories , you can find it here: Emily
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You can also find me on Twitter at @plebrass
I am on Pinterest… one day I will figure out what to do there other than finding cool recipes
Lessons from my daughter 
Beautiful! Brought me to tears. I’ve learned that its about letting go of my expectations and being in the moment and truly enjoying those special moments. And what a beautiful moment it was for you and Emily. Way to go Mama!
Thank you. I tear up every time I tell this story as this was such a big moment for me. I had let go of my expectations than it hit me really hard that my girl is perfect and that she is the girl I wanted. πthank you for reading!
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I couldn’t help but tear up at the end of your story. I’m so happy that you got to have that moment. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Thank you for taking the time to read and commenting. I’m a lucky mom!
She’s a lucky daughter as well!
Thank you. I checked your blog, I’ll be back!
Thank you!!
Beautifully written, thank you for sharing such a precious moment x
Thank you for taking the time to read!
My pleasure entirely x
It’s a crime when doctors sell children short. What an amazing daughter you have. She is showing them!
Thanks for bringing this to the Drop and Hop! Have fun clicking on links and meeting the guests!
Thank you. To be fair, they gave us worst case scenario without telling us that’s what it was!
Hi! I hopped over from Susie’s Wild Ride. What a beautiful story. I know a little bit about dashed dreams for my child. I always assumed my child would love reading and writing as much as I do, and that he would go through school without too much incident, play sports or do martial arts and perhaps a musical instrument or be a Boy Scout. Typical expectations. I also expected to have a lovely hypnobirth experience. Life changed forever when my son was born unexpectedly 7 weeks early via emergency C-section. Over the next several years, one by one, my expectations were, shall I say, adjusted. And now I’m open to whatever life brings.
Thank you for hopping over! Adjusting our expectations is difficult but in my case it really helped me get to know my daughter instead of continuously morn the baby I thought I should have had. I’m also open to whatever life brings. I’m looking forward to read about your journey.
I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good.
I don’t know who you are but definitely you’re going to a famous blogger if you are not already π Cheers!
Hi! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a collection of
volunteers and starting a new initiative in a community in the same niche.
Your blog provided us beneficial information to work on. You have done a wonderful job!
Hi there! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be
ok. I’m absolutely enjoying your blog and look forward to new posts.
Hi. You can find me on twitter @plebrass. Thank you for reading.
You ought to take part in a contest for one of the highest quality websites online.
I’m going to highly recommend this website!
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You made me cry. It is beautifully written. When I knew I was pregnant I had the same dream if it would have been a girl and she is but all that fade away from the second we knew she had cdc. Like the previous coment your experience will help me look forward to the future as Katia is only 3 and a half. Merci et mes compliments pour ton blog. Helen
Merci beaucoup pour vos beaux commentaires. Emily is teaching
us so many lessons without even knowing it. Life is not easy but its worth it. She is worth it.
Beautiful! Helps me look forward to the future.