fashion | Lessons from my daughter

I told you before about Emily’s desire to be a cheerleader… if you recall, our first attempt wasn’t successful and our second attempt looked somewhat promising but didn’t quite made my girl feel like a cheerleader.

You can read a little about those attempts in one of my older post: To be a cheerleader

Over the last year, the same club where we tried that second time, moved into their own gym and added classes. This summer they decided to give themselves another chance at creating a team of kids with various abilities.

Emily wasn’t sure she wanted to try… Actually I believe she said she couldn’t be a cheerleader.

That broke my heart as although I know she might not be a top cheerleader ( I certainly wasn’t cheerleader material at her age) I feel she deserves a fair shot at it. I feel quite strongly that she should be allowed to try and have fun.

Entered the new and improved Cheer Olympia

Emily’s cheer team is 2 other girls with special needs and 3 coaches. All 6 girls are around the same age and they all look like they are having a blast.

Emily feels so comfortable and included that she made a painting for the gym.

Her team are the Pillars and this is Colleen with Emily’s painting! It is displayed at the gym, which makes Emily really happy.

Now that my girl is a happy cheerleader and that the gym has confirmed that they are not only continuing but also expanding their program in the fall, Emily asked if “we” could make cheer bows for her team!

We…

I always fall for the we, when in theory, I should know by now that it means, I will do it, whatever “it” is.

We in our house means me!

We looked-up a you tube video and went to get supplies!

The most important step in making cheer bow, is the first one! Pour yourself a glass of wine and gather the supplies!

Our (my) project was a no-sow project as I don’t sow. And as a disclaimer, I am not crafty!

Please enjoy the pictures showing the steps, including the moment, we officially became just me 🙂

Beginners mistake #1. Verify that you buy enough ribbon. One of our roll was shorter…..

Off to the store we went. Again!

Somehow when we returned, Emily was more interested in her book than in helping. That is the official moment when this became my project!

Beginner mistake #2. Don’t use newspaper, use parchemin paper… paint and glue on thin ribbon ends up sticking to newspaper… I guess I should have known that!

Emily was really happy with the end results and can’t wait to give the bows away on Thursday!

What do you think? Did “we” do ok?

Today was Emily’s 17th birthday.

My baby is getting older… And I am so proud of the young lady she’s becoming.

She is the reason for this blog, she is the reason that I am who I am.

My baby is 17.

Her Cri du Chat Syndrome diagnosis doesn’t define her. She defines herself!

Over the years, when other kids went to birthday parties and sleep-overs, Emily stayed home with us.

The thing is, it’s difficult for her to make friends. She has been invited to less than a handful of birthday parties in 17 years.

This year, a couple of really great things happened.

First, she got a birthday card from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

Who else got that?

She also got tons of Facebook messages and likes!

I posted on my wall that my baby is 17. My status received 93 likes and 48 comments. I’ve read them all to Emily.

I posted on the Cri du Chat support group and we got 97 likes and 26 comments. Again, I took time to read them all to Emily.

Emily’s runner from the “I run 4 Michael” group posted on the group’s Facebook page that it was Emily’s birthday. We got 133 likes and 27 comments.

If you have a child who is sick or has special needs, you should really look them up on Facebook. Hundreds of runners are looking for buddies to dedicate their training to and build a friendship with. It’s an amazing community. We love our runner Sonia.

Today, my girl received over 300 likes and 101 comments so far. She received birthday wishes from all over the world!