Parents in Wheelchairs

How sweet that she should even consider that, never mind at that time in the morning!

It has been a long while since I wrote last and Sarah continues to amaze us each and every day. She has already developed a cracking sense of humour and is a great sport! She is full of beans and just loves life - 'where are we going today Mummy?' is a frequent question when she gets up in the morning. She skips around with her bouncy wavy hair, notices her reflection in the glass oven door and pulls a funny face, puts both legs in one leg of her pyjamas and says she's a mermaid, reads us bedtime stories holding the book so we can see the pictures (like her teachers at pre-school do)....and the list goes on. She brightens up a room and she is the icing on our cake. We love you Sarah xx

Gosh, it's March tomorrow and I can't believe where the time is going.....Sarah is now 3 years old and still is still the lovliest little person in the world. I know that all parents say that but she really IS!!!!
Sarah really got into Christmas this year and tried to understand the concepts of the Christmas tree/Father Christmas coming down the chimney/advent etc etc. I don't think it will be long before she works out that it would be impossible for Father Christmas to come down the chimney...she considers things too much and isn't afraid to question us if she doesn't understand. She loved opening her presents and shrieked with joy when she unwrapped her Snow White dress! On it went over the top of her PJ's!! Another great hit was a princess castle (doll-house style) and a set of miniature princesses to go with it.
She really got into the idea of receiving gifts but was, as usual, great when they stopped coming.....makes me wonder how much she understood it all and I really want to believe that we explained it well!
She wasn't impressed when we took all the decorations down but was OK as "We will have Christmas again and have a christmas tree and Santa will bring more presents"!!

Sarah continues to be full of life and like a sponge absorbing all there is to learn. Very rarely do we have to explain things twice and her memory is outstanding. She has recently started going to ballet classes and thoroughly enjoys pretending to be a fairy flying around looking for butterflies and I treasure every moment watching her!!

You are truly flourishing Sarah and we are thoroughly enjoying watching you xx

When looking out at the frost this morning Sarah announced; "It's freezie outside Mummy!"

Oh my word! Sarah seems to be learning and developing on a daily basis at the moment....(now aged 2 years, 8 months) ....I took her to the playground last weekend and she headed off towards the gate, opened it, held out her arm and said "After you Mummy" How cute is that?
When I arrived to pick her up from Grandma and Grandad's today, she rushed over to the car and , whilst bouncing around excitedly, told me that she had made a picture for me, and "It is a present for you. I will put it on my wall. You will be happy Mummy!".
We sat together on the sofa and watched her favourite TV programme tonight......we each had a chocolate as a treat and straight away she said "Oh, thank you Mummy!"
Her counting is utterly brilliant - she lined up the conkers she got from the garden earlier, touched each one and counted them perfectly - up to 12!
We went to wave at Daddy through the window earlier and when we were moving away from the window she asked "What are these Mummy?" "They're blinds" "Are they?" "Yes, they're not curtains are they?" "No"....and so on - we can really have a proper conversation now and her vocabulary is fantastic.

These are all just the tip of the iceberg and everyday she says or does something that touches me in a way I have never experienced before - I just feel so blessed to have such a healthy, bright, loving and beautiful daughter - she really does light up the room.

I never knew I was in to fairies and princesses and Mickey Mouse and Tinkerbell and the little waving cat figurine that sits in the window of the Chinese herbal shop near the traffic lights until a few months ago - it's funny how you get sucked in to their world isn't it? It's ACE!

Today I had a fab day with my daughter - I took her to London on the train on my own...........may not sound unusual to most mums but I use a wheelchair and it was not that long ago that I went to London on the train on my own for the first time since my accident 14 years ago. It requires relying on assistance to get on and off the train (which sometimes does not go to plan). Taking Sarah with me requires me to take her safety into consideration too and to believe that she will not wander off down the carriage beyond my reach etc.

I am pleased to say that it was a great day! Sarah was, as usual, an absolute star and we went on the train, a bus and in a taxi. Sarah (aged 2.5yrs) had to get off all of these on her own and wait for me to be helped and she waited exactly where she was asked to. We met up with my sister and her little boy and spent a considerable amount of time walking in and around London and she never strayed off or behaved in a way that endangered her safety.

To finish a perfect day, we were invited to travel 1st Class on the way home and were treated to drinks and a meal courtesy of Virgin Trains!

Thanks Sarah for letting me trust you and demonstrating that you can, indeed, be trusted at such a young age. I'm proud of you x

I am 37 years old and at an induction session at a local gym last night I was asked "Have you ever been to a gym before?" I'm sure they expect most people of my age to answer "Yes" but to my horror, I answered "NO".

Before my accident (now with a spinal cord injury T12 complete) I used to go to fitness classes but never the gym. Since being in a wheelchair I have dabbled with wheelchair tennis and swimming and was a member of a wheelchair basketball club for a few years.

I think that the main reasons for my evasion of gyms have been 1) being very self conscious - especially about transferring on and off the equipment and 2) preferring the social aspect of a team sport/activity.

However, now I am a Mum (hurrah!) my loyalties lie closer to home rather than travelling unrealistic distances to basketball training and matches. Also, my office-based work means that I do not rush around all day expending energy.

So, it is time to do something constructive that I can fit in around my family and work commitments.........my increasing waist line is demanding that I either do this or buy clothes in the next size up!! I have tried pushing round the block but negotiating the cambers of the pavements, dropped curbs, inclines, declines etc make it all unpredictable and therefore difficult to set a steady pace.

I have discovered that my local council-run gym is just the ticket – they have about 5 pieces of equipment that can be used by wheelchairs users as well as able-bodied people. The locking mechanism for the seat/bench can easily be released allowing the seat/bench to be rotated to the side. This enables wheelchair access to the equipment. There are even two hand-cycles that have seats that can be removed to allow wheelchair access.

I tried all of the 5 pieces of equipment last night and went back this afternoon and hand-cycled for 10km. I am so pleased that I have found an environment where I can work out properly whilst remaining in my wheelchair.

I would urge anyone who is thinking about going to the gym but keeps putting it off to look in to facilities available in their local area. I was pleasantly surprised and you may be too!

I was asked recently whether I Sarah wears reins when we go out together………. As Sarah become more and more mobile I was concerned about how I would keep her safe when we were out and about once she was walking. A friend bought some reins for me to use and Sarah detested them.....so they were only used once. During a trip to park one day, James and the boys went off ahead and Sarah and I spent some time walking alone. I talked to her and asked her to walk 'next to Mummy'. When she slowed down I did too and when she walked ahead I stopped and asked her to come back to me. I try to ask her to do things rather than asking her not to do things. E.g. "Please walk" rather than "don't run" and she seems to respond really well to this. This 'training' (for want of a better word) has paid off big time because she has never run off. Even crossing the road; I can't hold her hand so I tell her to stand next to me and wait. Then when we are about to cross, I point to and describe exactly where we are going and say that we are going to walk etc. As a result, we cross safely and not in a hap-hazard way. Having said all of this, I will not let my guard down and become complacent...she is only 2 and a half years old and I talk her through everything every time.

I am surprised that I do not need to use reins, but pleasantly surprised! Of course, when we are in the park now, I am happy for her to run ahead or lag behind within reason as it’s a time for play and discovery. However, safety is the priority when walking on the pavement or crossing the road.

One thing that really bugs me is when I see parents and children walking along the pavement and the children are walking closest to the road………..

One of my friends had baby recently "Baby Freya" as sarah calls her. After visiting her for the first time, Sarah was getting ready for bed as usual, singing to herself in her own little world "I'm a little girl called Freya, Freya, Freya. I'm a little girl!". About a month later, we went out for a family picnic and Sarah's Aunty Tor, who was heavily pregnant at the time, was there so we had the discussion of the baby in Tor's tummy and that it would be coming out in a few weeks. 
A couple of days after that, Sarah and I were playing on the bed and she stroked my tummy....."Have you got a baby in your tummy Mummy?" "No darling, Mummy hasn't got a baby in her tummy." "Oh!" she said "You just got a big tummy Mummy?"
Very funny and probably one of the few people who can get away with a comment like that!!!!!