I’ve landed here in 2022, where the world is as beautiful and as stressful as ever. After a few years of processing the loss of normalcy, I still feel like I am trying to catch up but just can’t make it feel right. Somewhere along my journey through life, it seems like I forgot to stop and breathe; I forgot to keep growing as a person and a parent.

Writing has always been essential for me in creating balance and comfort in my life— my hope is to share the things I’m learning and the things I tell myself as I try to grow. I’m not an expert in any one thing but I am willing to search through many things to find what helps. Honestly, I am just trying to feel better. I’m on a big personal journey to try to feel like a present parent, a happier person, a connected human instead of someone struggling through too many days.

In a world where we usually see a reflection of each other’s good days, I want to be someone who shares more: the whirlwind of parenting a neurodiverse, nonspeaking child with a rare disease; the nonstop presence of mental illness; the good days and the harder days of parenting; the need to listen, learn, and try new things; the choice to accept all feelings as important and see all behavior as communication; the irony of parenting a highly emotional, strong willed child as a person with the same traits.

So here we are, starting @learntryparent and sharing our family with you.