Jennifer Briggs

Lately I have been feeling like a hypocrite. I have my team of amazing volunteers who come to my house to be loving and focused with Sarah, but I, myself, have been having a hard time feeling loving towards her. We have small nice moments, but my overall impression is of frustration, sternness, and yelling… Read more »

We generally have a rule that we can’t have two weekends in a row with either hosting company or being out of town. Sometimes there are important events that mean going against this rule and then I am reminded of why we have the rule (it just becomes too much). Two weekends ago I was… Read more »

The girls had their first ballet class on Tuesday and it went beautifully. It is a small class with only 5 or 6 students. Sometimes when I think about our efforts with Sarah I picture being up to bat and going for a home run. With the ballet class, it felt like a home run…. Read more »

Sarah and Amy and I played many rounds of Hello Kitty Bingo while singing the song I made up to the tune of “Raw Hide.”  It goes like this: Rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ Keep those dice rollin’ Hello Kitty! Daniel, Fifi, Squirrel Gum ball and watering can Hello Kitty —- This started as just a moment… Read more »

I didn’t have quite the easily blissful, totally 100% comfortable with upset time that I had the previous two weeks, but overall the week went well. We went to the pool at my office and I supported Amy as she kicked and moved her arms so she swam little laps with my help. Sarah bravely… Read more »

I think I am finally succeeding in becoming more like my mother. I have so wanted to be the kind of mother she was/is to me, having space and clear attention for my upsets, without needing to shorten the duration of my feelings. Last week I wrote about feeling more truly comfortable when my girls… Read more »

Every time I watch Sarah doing gymnastics I feel amazed and grateful and a tiny bit teary. Gymnastics provides a clear reminder of how far Sarah has come in her physical  abilities. Tuesday was her last gymnastics class until I sign them up for another. We are going to take a break for the summer… Read more »

Sarah has a loose tooth. For real. Loose! I know the dentist had told me this several months ago but I couldn’t tell. Now, I can wiggle it myself. Wow! One morning Carl showed Sarah a new word card with “black cat” and then showed the already familiar “red rose,” Sarah spontaneously said, “The black… Read more »

What went right? I’ve been thinking about this question and about how often in my life I notice the little things that don’t go according to my plan or hopes, noticing in essence what went wrong. But I’ve been shifting to noticing a bit more consciously what goes right. We had lovely visits from my… Read more »

I’ve been considering the suggestion that we be the change we want to see in the world. I am understanding it in a slightly new way, realizing that if I want Sarah to be more peaceful then I need to be more peaceful. Perhaps this is obvious but it also seems rather profound, and I… Read more »