31 for 21: Day 8 ~ Our First Buddy Walk

Today, my family attended it's first event related to Down Syndrome Awareness. We went to the 7th Annual YADSA Buddy Walk. In the online community, the first Buddy Walk has a reputation for possibly being a difficult one. We all love our children intensely and though we know there is a broad spectrum of how children are affected by Ds, we often times will see other children or adults with Ds and presume that certain details will apply to our own children. We do this despite knowing that it may be an illogical presumption.

You wouldn't walk down the street and point out a random adult and believe that this is how your typical child will turn out with regard to appearance, behavior or ability. This also applies to people with Ds; we can't see older children or adults and presume that because our children have the same genetic condition that they will be the same. Yet sometimes we do and it can be an overwhelming emotional experience for some.

I was very proud of myself today; I am typically an emotionally-involved person, but today, I only allowed myself to see the good qualities in all the people I observed and I found so many good, notable observations. This tells me that despite the challenges we may face in raising a child with Ds, there is much to look forward to as well. That's exciting because a lot of information that's "out there" for public consumption is geared towards negative details and it makes it that much harder to not be apprehensive about what lies ahead for us. It's having an experience like this that makes it easier to visualize the good outcomes to which we look forward.

Now it's time to share pictures! Enjoy! and come back tomorrow for day nine of the 31 for 21 challenge..