Confessions of a Rockin mom #5: Fears about being treated differently

In the moments after Everett was diagnosed, I remember asking for my mom. My mom is incredible. She’s an educational diagnostician with a special education background, so she works with kiddos with all kinds of different abilities through the public school setting. I remember her asking me after I shared the news of Everett’s diagnosis, “What exactly are you afraid of?” I also remember my response, “I’m afraid everyone will treat him differently.” Hence, this is fear#5. And I’ll have to confess, I was right — everyone does treat him differently. If I had cash for every instance a complete stranger has approached me to tell me how adorable Everett is, I’d be a rich woman. Similarly, if I had cash every time someone approached me and asked, “Are you Everett’s mom? I love seeing him on Facebook!” — I’d be even richer.

People do treat him differently, but most of them treat him differently in a very positive way. Dare I say…he’s the most popular customer at our local organic grocery store? And, it’s impossible to visit our favorite Tex-Mex eatery without 90% of the staff stopping by our table just to say “hi” to Everett, especially our friend Fabian…who taught Everett his favorite welcome gesture…the fist bump 🙂. So even though I was on target with this fear, I was definitely off-target on how Everett would be treated “differently.” This photo depicts a family date night we had last spring at one of our favorite local restaurants.