How great are our kids?! What are you proud of?

[Perzival]

So this is a post to celebrate our kids... it doesn't matter the accomplishment, it could be huge and world changing or it could be world changing and huge for them. I'll start:-

Eldest ds wants to go to Oxford. We come from one of the poorest towns in the North west. Dh got his qualifications while working and so did I, we're the highest educated of our family but not from red brick/ Russel group uni's. It's incredible that the idea is even open to him. Whether he does it or not I'm proud that he isn't limited by where he comes from.

Youngest ds is disabled. We know he'll never live alone. Since he's been born we were told he'll never speak, never use a toilet, not be able to read, never add up... he kicks arse! He is verbal in his way (he uses words as part of a total communication approach), he reads better than I can, he can read anything, he knows his times tables to 12 and the factors, he goes to the bathroom. He's amazing.

Both my kids are fantastic. They are unique and brilliant in their own ways. This is a thread to celebrate our kids, tell me how yours are amazing, let's celebrate them.

Lovely post.
Mine is nearly 7 and she was discussing future jobs, she wants to be a scientist like me, I said don't as won't ever be rich. And she said 'we don't need to be rich if we're happy'...sounds made up but my heart nearly burst

DD started having anxiety and panic attacks in Y9, was 2 years in private therapy and is now diagnosed with high functionting ASD.
She smashed her GCSEs despite the fact that she had to be collected at least once a week for months because she coudn't handle a full day school.

She is on the path to a AAB A-level now. She still has anxiety attacks which leave her unable to stomach food but we are getting there.

My COVID baby (now 3) who has always been too shy/scared to speak up during children's services at synagogue, today raised her hand to answer a question and say a blessing off by heart!

my middle child has adhd and it wouldn’t surprise me if he was autistic. We’ve recently started skiing again, new for him really. We’re just driving home from his third trip. He had a couple of beginner lessons then refused any more. Wouldn’t take any advice from me at all. He’d take himself off to the beginner slope, then progressed onto the big lift. We’d see him as we went past, getting frustrated with himself, and at times very cross, chucking his poles on the ground. He finally told us he didn’t like taking instructions (which explains a lot about his school grades). So we left him to it with some gentle encouragement.

By the end of this trip he’s managed to teach himself to parallel ski, through sheer bloody determination. I’m very proud that he didn’t give up and worked it out. A lesson to us as parents too, to have a little trust in them when they’re struggling, give them space to work it out, while being there in the background if they need us.

My little one has ASD and we're away on holiday and he just tried swimming and loved it. We tried it a few years ago and he hated it. I. So proud he tried and stepped out of his comfort zone and got rewarded for it.

My son helped at a funeral for a child once. He'd never been to a funeral before at all and I was so proud of him doing the task he was there for in a very emotional setting. I gave him the choice of whether to do it or not and would have fully supported him choosing not to but I was very proud.

Also, we are white and live in quite a rural area so I worry about the children's lack of exposure to other cultures. So I was quite proud when one of them responded to a comment from another child about 'African' by saying something like 'there are lots of languages in Africa'.
( I know that's pretty basic stuff and I'm not saying it deserves a medal or anything but I was still pleased to hear them challenge a generalisation like that at a young age).

What a lovely idea for a thread :)

My eldest has adhd and asd. He’s 24

we were told he would end up inside because of his behaviour, really feared for his future at one point, school and home were a nightmare.

He finally settled down in year eleven, did well in his GCSEs, got a level 3 in mechanics , did an apprentice and worked in maccies from the age of 16. He’s now a shift supervisor in a factory with a full forklift licence and a dad.

dd1 has asd and is now about to graduate from uni with a degree in conservation. Shes overcome a lot.

dd2 and 3 have also been through so much, ones is now in college doing childcare, in a placement she loves and is hoping to become a teacher and dd3 is 13, has gone through profound loss (as they all have), rejection, and PTSD and is doing really well at football, playing for a
local team and a town team and has slowly overcome her panic and anxiety over pretty much everything.

i am proud of them all. Life hasn’t been kind to them.

My DS1 passed his martial arts grading exam and received his yellow belt today. He really struggles with anxiety and when he started a year ago he wouldn't even participate in the classes, and he would have a massive meltdown each time we took him to a lesson.

We wanted to give up, but his Sensei convinced us to keep bringing him. I'm so glad we did. He has come so far.

DS2 has moved up to the toddler room at nursery and has settled in perfectly. So lovely seeing him become a proper person with a cheeky sense of humour and I love all the new words / sentences he comes out with now.

DD1 will be six in the summer. She's such a glass half full girl. It's so refreshing. She can be intense at times, but it's just because she loves life, and puts 100% into everything she does. She is so kind hearted, and thinks of others.

DD2 (recently turned 3), has started to make friends. She has some traits of autism, so for her to make friends at nursery is huge for us! Couldn't be prouder of her.

My DS makes me so proud of the person he is. He is very clever but he is also so kind, charismatic, thoughtful and so funny! He's got a new very well paid job.

My SD is travelling the world! She is doing things on her own that I could only imagine. She is tenacious, resilient, hard working and charming.

Both made such a fuss of me on mother's day and my birthday. I've mothered them both the complete opposite of my DM and I've tried to mirror my DF and it's paid off!

Our babies! How lucky are we?!

Lovely thread.

I'm proud that my DD(2) is such a little ray of sunshine who is so determined to do things independently and I can already see that she'll be a strong woman.

DS(5) started school in September and has given me something new to be proud of every day since. I particularly enjoyed the Christmas play - he's always been very shy and I thought he'd just stand there and cry, but he sang and danced his little heart out. I cried instead!

And my younger one who finds it really hard to stay still or be quiet was really good when we visited someone with a nervous pet recently. He loves animals and I told him this one would only come to say hello if he was still and quiet. I have never seen him so silent!

Every time my son says a new word I’m so excited! He just said apple and pear right now. He’s 19 months and he can say turtle too 🐢 he repeats almost everything so clever 🥰

My seven year old said he wants to study space, but will do it from earth so he is always close to me. Also, still comes in for crashing hugs.

My son struggled with walking/jumping, things like that. We found out when he was five that he had one calf shorter or stiffer than the other. We got him into swimming and martial arts to try and help and he really struggled for the first year. He's 6 1/2 now and yesterday he got his purple belt!! We are so proud of him! Our little girl turned 14 months today and she is so lovely! She's getting braver and taking more steps everyday! X

Lovely thread OP!
My DCs are adults now and all the years of hard work parenting have paid off. We were always structured, strict but loving and supportive but we always let them stand on their own feet and fight their own battles to build their resilience and independence. DD got a first at uni and now has a wonderful career she loves and travels the world. DS has a fantastic career that is really taking off this year and has a beautiful little family of his own now. Both my DCs were not academic but we found their 'thing' in sport and careers and they have both excelled and are very happy. I feel very lucky.

Another happy yes vote for this thread!
My eldest is a young teen and has been so so kind to my mum since my dad passed and she also lost her twin sister a couple of months later.
My youngest is one of life's happy go lucky people and was a right little peace keeper at her first sleepover at mine last night.
They've been through a lot and they make me proud every day.

I was told my Wilf would never walk, talk or live independently. He's now in his own flat with support workers going in. He works with several charities, he's an ambassador for The Makaton Charity and Follow Your Dreams. He's also charity ambassador for Curlys Farm. During Lockdown he did all his Makaton qualifications and last year passed his Level BSL..
☺ ☺ ☺ ☺ ☺

I love this thread!!!

My household used to be a rather angry one. My husband and I have both had to learn how to deal with our own inner children and lack of impulse control in order to coach our extremely impulsive, aggressive, boy with his big feelings. We basically had shown him it was normal to be impulsive and shouty and needed to change because it wasn't a mirror either of us enjoyed.

But...we have done it, and he astounds me on a weekly basis. He got recognised at school for how in tune with his body he is, and how well he can communicate his emotions and what he needs in any given moment. He remembers to take a breath when he's feeling overwhelmed I'd say a good 80% of the time, he takes himself out of situations when they're feeling like too much even if it means walking away from his friends. He even calls me out on my behaviour and holds me to account at times.

Today for example, I was being very unreasonable. I'm sleep deprived, hormonal and touched out after solo parenting sick children for a week, but honestly I'm still the parent and I wasn't acting like it. My 5 year old sat in the back of the car and took a series of big calming breaths before speaking to me, which in turn reminded me to breathe, and we all started being nicer to one another.

He is so articulate, and seeing him do things like offering a compassionate cuddle to his little sister when she's in the middle of a tantrum/feeling overwhelmed, or keep me in check reminding me to take a breath, is so validating that we've made a success out of something which really didn't start off well. He's still a happy go-lucky 5 year old, we don't make this stuff his responsibility. We've just tried to lead by example as much as possible. I'm so proud of the person he is and the journey our little team has been on together.

OK so I'm going to put here what my ds put in his mother's day card to me.

'Thank you for being the best mum ever and for giving me a wonderful life'

I burst out loud crying. When dh died and ds was so young I was so afraid for him and his future. I cocked up telling him, it was such a terrible thing to have to do. I've made a thousand mistakes since them but he's 20, level headed, lots of fun, hard working and kind. Yes I'm proud of him.

This is lovely 🥰

My DD has been struggling with her reading but today she finished a whole proper chapter book and is so pleased with herself. She is persistent even when it's hard, I'm so proud of her 😊

Then she told DS about it, and he said that he was proud of her too - I love how encouraging he is 💕💕💕