Yes I'm very happy for Little Jonny and his shining school report, however...

Urgh, it's here isn't it. That time of year parents of children with SEN dread. When social media explodes with comments and photographs of proud parents and their children's many, many achievements. Shining school reports; end of term celebrations; presents for the teachers; exciting plans for the summer holidays...yep, even when you de-register your children from the system, you are still bombarded with this.

I don't want to belittle these achievements, or make anybody feel bad, I really don't...but seriously? Does anybody stop just for a second and consider what is feels like for families like ours? The ones who don't get to pass these milestones. And I say this knowing there are families far, far worse off than mine.

When you plan to start a family you have all these expectations, don't you? Your children will go to school, have friends, attend extra curricular activities. Enjoy their lives and achieve in line with societal norms... you will be a 'normal' family, with 'normal' issues like the stress of trying to book holidays clubs and booking in play dates...because, why wouldn't you be? It doesn't matter how or when your reality changes, if you are parenting a child with additional needs your life turns upside down. And with it, comes the grief. The sadness, the guilt, the regret, of what could or should have been. And this time of year is like a big dollop of salt in the wound.

So, don't get me wrong, I am so pleased for all my friends and how well their children have completed another year of school. But today, in our house, we are not celebrating end of term parties with our friends or end of year reports and straight A grades. Today we got out of bed, and carried on. We survived. and that is just as big an achievement.

This week's small wins:

• ASD assessments have come through for both boys🥳

• Twin 1 managed to go upstairs on his own

• Twin 2 managed to sleep in a bed on his own (not his OWN bed, but still 😉)