People Suck...

This is vent filled- I feel like I should warn you of that ahead of time.

Well, not all people suck... but yeah, people suck...at least the insensitive ones. The amount of comments I hear both to my face and the ones I am not meant to hear about Norah make me crazy.

Some people ask me how old she is and then it begins... others can just tell she's the age where most kids are running and she's not... There are judgy comments, nosy questions, constant suggestions, brag-plainning.

 Oh yeah, my kid walked at 10 months, that was just as bad!-- um, really??! If your kid walked at 10 months you didn't constantly wonder if your kid was ever going to walk. You didn't drag your kid to appointments all the time. You didn't shell out tons of money for specialists and therapy or spend hours on the phone with your insurance company trying to get them to pay. You didn't spend hours upon hours on paperwork because your kid walked early. But, yes, you had to chase your kid before he/she knew what might hurt them, but I PROMISE you I'd rather be that way.

Oh.... yeah, I was really worried about my kid. She didn't walk until 14 months. Really? That's WELL within the normal range. I seriously hear this one all the time... anywhere from a year to 15 months.

Have you thought about physical therapy? ...or... Have you talked to her pediatrician about this? No, seriously, I haven't done anything. I just suck at parenting. This is obviously my fault.

Not to mention the--- What is wrong with her? - mostly those are behind my back but I am not deaf, seriously. Why walk when you carry her all the time? I'm sorry, I can't let her scoot/crawl everywhere and I have another kid to take care of.

I am sure I am forgetting some things, but I am seriously exhausted. I feel like if I take her places, I get judged or she does. Or we get the sympathetic looks and comments, which, frankly, really don't feel much better, if at all. I don't want Norah to be felt sorry for, I want her to be seen as the typical nearly 2 year old.

I want to take my kids to the park, the pool, or just in public in general and not have Norah be stared at. I would guess most people don't get how much this crap hurts. Some might be trying to help but are totally misguided, some are just plain jerks. I know this blog is by no means private and anyone could read it, but I know not too many do, so I feel like I can be open here. Our struggles with Norah's development have been kept off of Facebook because that's way too big of an audience...

I should say, some people don't suck. The people who know us and know Norah are mostly supportive. They, like us, can see Norah's progress and praise her on that. The ones who can focus on her progress have been a godsend to us. I can worry enough for everyone. We need that positive energy :) There is a way to show your concern without being jerky, and luckily for us, our friends and families have been able to do that.

No, Norah is not walking. No, I don't know why. No, I don't know when she will. No, I don't know how long we will be in therapy.

Yes, she is my baby. Yes, we love her. Yes, we are proud of her. Yes, she will do great things.

I don't have all the answers, but I know right now, we need support, not judgements and hurtful comments or quite frankly, the sympathetic looks.

I will leave you with a picture of my beautiful, wonderful daughter.