Duchenne

Bad days happen, columnist Betty Vertin writes. She describes one in particular after a son's anxiety attack, and how she survived it.

I managed to maneuver to the end of the conversation without telling her; it was not the time for my sensitive and sweet daughter to know a hard thing like that. I once wrote a blog post about it and promised to share it with her someday so that she knows how important she is to our family. It was a day that no book and no other parent could tell you how to navigate. I try to explain why, and they understand I need her to help and that she does it because she loves them. As a result, I was tired and grumpy for the remainder of the day. The experience took everything out of me, and I was running on fumes to begin with. Instead, I shared with her that she is special to us. When I am parenting alone while my husband is traveling, it’s a real challenge to balance Rowen’s and Callie’s needs and take care of the other three children still home. I was going on day six or seven as a single parent while my husband was traveling with one of my sons for baseball. That alone is grounds for me to feel tired and stressed. It was my last full day alone as my husband was due home early the next morning, and I thought we’d made it. My middle son with DMD, Rowen, who is 13 and nonambulatory, depends on me for a lot of help during the day, which is to be expected and is something I’m used to.