For my daughter’s birthday this year, I knew she was getting a lot of Barbie stuff so I planned to get her something for her Barbies. When I was a kid, I remember having this little pink suitcase where I kept all the clothes, shoes, etc. I couldn’t find anything like this at the store and in that moment, I realized that _I_ would probably appreciate some organization type of gift but Elsie probably wouldn’t anyway. I compromised and got her the portable “Barbie dorm room”. 🙂 It will prompt discussions about going to college AND it folds up nicely for easy storage. She loved it. She got 2 new Barbies along with a lot of new Barbie outfits from her friends.
But last night….
My daughter woke up, crying, and came into my room saying, “Mommy, I had a nightmare!” I pulled her into my bed and asked her to tell me about her nightmare. She said, in her hyperventilating, crying voice, “I had a nightmare that I lost some of the little pieces that came with my Barbies!!!” I am NOT kidding!!!! I couldn’t believe it.
I told her about the little pink suitcase that I had when I was little and told her we’d find some way to store her Barbie stuff so she won’t lose any of the little pieces. I praised her for what a good job she does of taking care of her things and put her back to bed.
So it’s confirmed: the organization thing must be genetic! 🙂
I'm a working parent with young adult daughter and son with Autism. I am an independent Product Management Consultant focused exclusively on helping companies who serve children with special needs.
I'm also passionate about my kids, as I would expect any parent to be. I bring my project management skills home and my crazy knowledge about managing schedules home and use them both to manage my family. More importantly, I use these skills from work to manage my son's Autism therapy program.
Over the years, I've wanted to volunteer more with the Autism community. My form of volunteering is mentoring parents of friends who have found themselves in the difficult position of raising a child who has Autism. I have moments where I wonder where we'd be if I wasn't a project manager by trade, especially as I help parents who are struggling as this is new territory for them.
I recently was helping a long time friend who was dating a man who had a child with Autism. As I shared my ideas with her and strategies for how to make life better for this child, she said, "You should write all of this great advice down."
This blog is about capturing those ideas. I also hope it inspires other parents out there to not only be the best parent they can be, but to do that while still pursuing the dreams they have for their careers. I believe you can do both.
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Organizing Dreen 