In our home, traditions are all about family- and designed with creativity and flexibility. 

Like last Easter, when I decided that Zoe’s excitement over her soon to be arriving Easter basket coupled with her fear that the “ Easter Bunny would be in our house” wasn’t worth a sleepless, stress filled night. So the Easter “ baskets” arrived after dark, with a “ glowing”  Easter egg hunt beginning on the backyard patio. ( Yes, I bought into the Pinterest rage of glow-stick Easter eggs and you know what? It rocked) When you spend a lot of time at home, these family fun traditions are important.

And this year,  as Easter draws near,Zoe is excited again. This time hoping her Easter basket includes not the wholesome Beach Barbies the bunny brings each year, but instead a goulish pink haired Monster High doll in roller skates. I was grieving the loss of Beach Barbie, thinking about how Zoe is growing up, when suddenly it occurred to me that I had missed something I don’t usually miss. 

When my daughter Zoe was little, I looked to the doctors to forecast her future. After all , they had the clinical experience from thousands of patients , and I was the first-time parent of a special needs child. I  would cover Zoe’s baby face with kisses, all the while wondering, “ Will her words ever come?” Will she ever walk? The doctors were uncertain. 

As Zoe grew older, she missed  “ milestones” , yet amazed us with her tenacious achievements. We learned to embrace her uniqueness,and I found peace with the fact that as her Mother, I knew her the best.