I recently read a book to my children, "We're going on a Bear Hunt" where a family searches to find a bear. On their journey they are met with various barriers and hardships in order to find their bear. Each time they face this barrier they remind each other that the only way to pass it and continue on is to go through the hardship.... and so it is with motherhood. We face many situations, some of which we would like to go around, or under or bypass entirely, but that's not how it works. We must go through the experience and in doing so we will grow and feel empowered by what we learn and how we react to the situation.

While laying next Jack as he fell asleep, I asked myself the hard question, "But what about Jack's perspective? How did he feel today?" For a boy who's growing up in a world that creates rigid boxes but excels in water without boundaries and mountains without walls, I started to see where I needed to give him more grace for the strides he was making and for the assurance that forever and always his mother would be there to love him, to support him, and to cheer him on.

Today we learn from Andrea Despain, and how she approaches the public school system with her children, working with the principal, teachers and the support staff to provide the best options for her kids.

Have you ever thought about the conversations that go on in your head and how they affect your child? Let's talk about the influence of a growth mindset in the lives of your children and how that can help them address their struggles and work through them.

We as parents have one of the greatest tasks to

Are you ready to climb? The emotional scale or emotional ladder is a great tool for us as moms to utilize through the good and the bad. Let's learn a bit more about our emotions, the energy that they hold and the effect they have on our journey of motherhood. For more information visit www.vanessadonaghy.com

The journey of motherhood is personal and unique to each family, with additional complexities as we support, love and raise our children who have differences, delays or disabilities. So, let's skip the comparisons, seek for the joy and recognize the hope that we as mothers can surely find.

Motherhood is real work, and moms caring for children with sensory needs and other atypical behaviors especially need a community of support and understanding, because a new layer of hard is part of their daily routine. They Call Me Mom speaks to those connected to a young person that expresses these differences and offers support, expert knowledge and hope to the mom, dad, grandparent, and friend loving this child.