Karen Wang
A Special Needs Gratitude List: 25 Little Things to be Thankful For
Every Thanksgiving, I ask everyone at the table what he or she is most thankful for. My family is truly blessed, so there’s plenty to say in that conversation. But in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving my friends and I have also noticed all the little things for which we give silent thanks every day. These are the things that make a complicated life much easier, but usually aren’t part of the discussion at Thanksgiving dinner. Perhaps you’ll have a few more to add to the list, too.
This year, I am thankful for:
1. Clean, dry socks in a child’s backpack. 
2. Pureed Thanksgiving foods such as mashed potatoes, butternut squash, applesauce and cranberry sauce for those who still gag on solid food.
3. My Cuisinart food processor for allowing me to puree anything and mix it into muffins and pudding.
4. The 24 ounce Thermos water bottle that keeps my son’s water at 36 degrees Fahrenheit, because he refuses to drink anything warmer than that.
5. The sport cap on the water bottle for preventing spills.
6. Rubber floor mats in the back seat of the car for catching 24 ounce spills.
7. Free samples at the farmer’s market and grocery store for making it possible for me to buy food with happy children.
8. Children’s bowel movements passed without blood, sweat or tears.
9. Drive-through pharmacies, drive-through banks and pay-at-the-pump gas stations.
10. Soft-foam earplugs for temporarily turning off “mommy ears.”
11. Ovaltine and other vitamin disguises.
12. Other people’s children who have public meltdowns - I don’t take pleasure in this, but I do use it as an educational opportunity for my own children, who can’t believe that they ever looked like that or sounded like that.
13. Child safety locks in the car that lock both the door and the window at the same time.
14. The glorious day when Lego Club magazine arrives at the same time at the OT catalog, so that I can gawk at my favorite toys at the same time as the kids.
15. Swimming goggles that cover the eyes AND nose - reducing the risk of aspirating water and eliminating my son’s fear of swimming.
16. The quiet sound of forks and knives clanking, which means that dinner is acceptable.
17. People who fall asleep immediately after a large meal.
18. Trampolines and other devices that wear out children without exhausting adults.
19. A crash followed by the sound of crying - because at least the child didn’t knock herself unconscious this time.
20. Children who wake up a parent in the middle of the night because of a bad dream, stuffy nose, sore throat, charlie horse, earache, growing pain, constipation - or any reason EXCEPT the need to vomit.
21. Moments of quiet play in which nothing is destroyed.
22. Family restrooms and versatile baby-changing shelves.
23. Extra epi-pens in the nurse’s office at school.
24. Ebay for helping me cash in all of the breakable items from my home - one time I sold a collectible crystal vase and the next day wrote a check for speech therapy for the same amount!
25. Siblings who somehow remain friends in spite of years of battles.
What are you thankful for?
