To the Typical Siblings
Dear typical sibling of a brother or sister with a disability, Today I want to speak to you as a parent, perhaps not your parent, but a parent nonetheless. I know you’ve had to sacrifice so much, and I wish you hadn’t. For the many times you’ve...
Does Down syndrome impact sibling relationships?
“Mom, sometimes, when I look at Nichole she is so cute that I feel like crying because my heart is so full of love.” There are times I look at my children and I feel overwhelmed because of the intense love I feel for them. It is a love so hard to contain that it...
Confessions of a Parent of Kids With Disabilities: the Hard Things
Parenting a child with a disability can be a challenge, and often those challenges feel like a strong tidal wave coming at us, threatening to make us lose our balance, to fall, to give up. But we don’t. We never do. The love for our children compels us to stand strong...
Siblings and Down Syndrome: So Full of Love
“Mom, sometimes, when I look at Nichole she is so cute that I feel like crying because my heart is so full of love.” There are times I look at my children and I feel like crying because of the intense love I feel for them. It is a love so hard to contain that it...
Ellen Stumbo writes and speaks about finding beauty in brokenness with gritty honesty and openness. She's passionate about sharing the real – sometimes beautiful and sometimes ugly – aspects of faith, parenting, special needs, and adoption. Ellen’s writing has appeared on Focus on the Family, LifeWay, MomSense, Not Alone, Mamapedia and the Huffington Post.