Ok peeps…if you do anything today, take one minute to watch Ruby and Fiona’s “Secret Handshake” in this video clip. And then watch my sweet Ella Mae pour her heart out to her mama.
I think a lot of parents when they get a diagnosis of Down syndrome worry about the effect it may have on their siblings. It seems like a no-brainer, but from the beginning, we vowed as a family to include Ruby in EVERY aspect of our lives. She was thrown into the mix of our everyday hustle, and we had the same expectations for her as we did big sis Ella Mae. Of course, she has therapies and we work on things with her, but we try the best we can to incorporate that in everyday life.
We have always included Ella Mae (inclusion works both ways!!) in things we are working on, and because of this, Ella Mae is fully invested in seeing Ruby succeed. The pride on her face shines so bright, and it is the coolest thing to watch. Do they get annoyed with each other? OF COURSE! Does Ruby drive Ella Mae NUTSO some days when she invades her Shopkins or crashes her Lego Party? YES! Their relationship is just like any other sibling relationship. Do I think Ella Mae sometimes is annoyed with things we have to do for Ruby? Yes, absolutely. But she is a better friend, daughter, sister and person because she has a unique perspective on life. And she genuinely ADORES her sister.
We request for Ella Mae to be in the Inclusion Class every year at her school, not only because of all the obvious benefits we have talked about this month, but because Ella Mae has built many true relationships, and we see such an element of compassion in EVERYTHING she does.I honestly believe her having that unique perspective has molded her into this amazing little human in a way that we would not have been able to do on our own.
We make a huge effort to nurture her interests and spend time with her doing things she is passionate about so she doesn’t feel like it is “all about Ruby”…but she also has an underlying awareness of “