I just came from the natural foods store where I shopped with my son, Andrew. I told him (bribed) if he behaved he could have a gluten-free, soy-free cookie. Andrew is nonverbal so whether or not I was getting through is not certain. His behavior was…questionable, especially when he decided we didn’t just need one bottle of vitamins, but pretty well one of each kind. When we got to the cookies he went for a large bag of the kind we used eat but now must abandon because of soy flour. I found him another, smaller single serve cookie and put it in the basket. He wasn’t having that. We need the BIG bag, Mom. I finally had to wrestle it out of his hand, show him the other cookie and steer him toward the checkout. Did he deserve that cookie? Probably not. Did he get that cookie? He had his first bite down before we left the parking lot.

Some days it’s not so much about the achieving as the trying.

For all the kiddos and adults we know and love with Down Syndrome, we love you, good days and bad.