mothers on the verge

Some days, when I'm feeling especially disheartened (like this entire week), I look at my list of people who are dyslexic and achieved great things. Did they achieve despite having dyslexia or because of it? I'm not sure but looking over this list certainly makes me feel better. Here they are: Hans Christian Anderson Alexander Graham Bell Winston Churchill Leonardo da Vinci Walt Disney Albert Einstein Nelson Rockefeller Quentin Tarantino W.B. Yeats Richard Branson Erin Brockovich Thomas Edison Anthony Hopkins John Irving Pablo Picasso Benjamin Zephaniah Not bad, huh?

We all try to be the best parent we can be, right? But sometimes it can be difficult. Sometimes we are faced with things we cannot fully understand, however hard we try. Sometimes, especially when you're tired or feeling below-par, it can feel impossible. Like today, when I discovered that my dyslexic seven-year-old daughter doesn't know the order of the days of the week. Small things that make it feel like an overload. We've struggled through the reading, the painful hours of stuttering and stumbling over simple words. The one step forward, three steps back phases. The days when reading the word 'and' seemed like a major challenge.  We got through learning to count up to 20, when the number 15 always 'hid' and couldn't be brought out however hard we tried. Sometimes it was the number 11 as well, other days 16 was the stubborn one. The days when she mixed up the letters that spelled out her name. When every other letter and number was the wrong wa

I'm turning into a grumpy old woman. Alpha claims this is a good thing, saying that I'm far too nice to people and I might as well wear a sign saying "walk all over me". But surely turning into an uber-bitch is a step too far? What's really making me feel the rage at the moment is certain people (you know who you are) trying to deny that Firstborn is dyslexic. These naysayers seem to think that I'm doing something really bad in allowing such a label to be applied to her. Like I'm making it up or something. Erm, why would I do that? Do they think I'm insane? Here are the main 'arguments': "But Firstborn seems so normal..." "She's obviously intelligent and she speaks well, she can't be dyslexic!" "Some children are just slower than others, it doesn't mean she's dyslexic. Why don't you just wait a few years and see what happens?" "Dyslexia is a load of rubbish, it's one of those trendy wo