Park Day (Parent to Parent)

 The three younger kids and I took our first outing since Owen's new diet started last week. We went to Park Day with our local Parent to Parent Support group. The food table was set up quite a way away from the playground, so it wasn't really a problem until the very end. Morgan was getting hungry and while I had been careful to create and pack an easy, to-go snack (plus an extra meal just in case) for Owen, I had completely failed to pack a similar snack for Morgan and Brenna. A wonderful day at the park complete with sitters to help with the little kids and other parents of special needs children to talk to ended with me dragging a screaming Owen away from the snack table while trying to explain why he couldn't have any watermelon even though Morgan could.

 I'm now completely convinced that the hardest part of the Ketogenic diet is feeding the rest of the family. So many of our meals are things Owen loves, but can't have. Even when I can make a similar meal for him, getting everyone fed at the same time is still beyond my capabilities most of the time.

All of these pictures turned out blurry, but so cute I can't resist posting them.

Brenna was fascinated with this little girl's hair clip.

  Despite the little flaw in my planning, the day was a lot of fun and VERY needed. It can be so easy to just never leave the house with Owen's needs. Parent to Parent events are so easy to attend because I never have to explain anything unless I want to. If Owen is having bad medication reactions, everyone understands. When he is completely off his game from seizures, med or diet changes, or whatever I can vent to other parents who get it. Owen isn't even the only child with dietary restrictions. When we had the feeding tube in, no one looked at me funny and any questions were about how we specifically were doing things to make the process easier. I didn't do anything with our local group for almost a year after Owen was born and I wish I had contacted them earlier. When I first heard about parent support meetings, it just seemed like one more thing that would be too much work, but instead it has had such a positive impact on us.

 Our friends and family have always treated Owen the same as they've treated our other children, which is great in many ways. They just aren't always able to understand what a huge impact his needs have had on our whole family. My parent to parent friends ( and some other friends with a medically needy child) do understand. As much as we try to treat Owen "normally" and as much as we try to minimize the impact his needs have on our lives, sometimes I need to be around people who get that this is hard stuff we're dealing with. Parent to Parent has helped provide me with that.