For the next few months, I am going to do a brief recap of some powerful parenting (with educational topics) books I’ve read.
Sometimes reading quotes from books helps shift my mindset on certain topics and gets me focused on what’s really important when raising children.
Book Title: Bloom
Author: Kelle Hampton
Book Synopsis:
There is us. Our Family. We will hold our precious gift and know that we are lucky….
From the outside looking in, Kelle Hampton had the perfect life: a beautiful two-year-old daughter, a loving husband, and a thriving photography career. When she learned she was pregnant with their second child, they were ecstatic. But when their new daughter was placed in her arms in the delivery room, Kelle knew instantly that something was wrong. Nella looked different than her sister, Lainey, had at birth. As her friends and family celebrated, a terrified Kelle was certain that Nella had Down syndrome – a fear her pediatrician soon confirmed. Yet gradually Kelle embraced the realization that she had been chosen to experience an extraordinary and special gift.
With lyrical prose and gorgeous photography, Bloom takes listeners on a wondrous journey through Nella’s first year of life – a gripping, hilarious, and intensely poignant trip of transformation in which a mother learns that perfection comes in all different shapes.
My Review:
As a long time reader of Kelle’s blog, Enjoying the Little Things, I was soooooo excited to read her book, Bloom. It is filled with full color photos which is a total bonus. Kelle writes from a place of authenticity and vulnerability. She shares her journey into the unexpected world of becoming a mother to a daughter with special needs. It is beautiful to see how she’s goes through the emotions of the unexpected and grows into a mother who loves no matter what.
Top Ten Quotes:
- “You know, through pain, you learn a lot about yourself–things you thought you never knew you wanted to learn. And it’s kind of like those animals that regrow a part of their body–like a starfish. You might not feel it. You might not even want to grow, but you will. You’ll grow that part that broke off, and that growing, that blooming–cannot happen without the pain.”
- “Life is bigger than what we expect.”
- “We can choose to be afraid or we can choose to live.”
- “It is a rite of passage not just for special needs, but for motherhood–to worry, to cry, to go to that awful place of “what would I do IF?” We ache when they ache, and we writhe with distress at the thought that they will, at some point in life, be hurt. And they will. Our children will hurt, many times along our journey, and there’s nothing we can do about it but love them and hold them and whisper in their ears, “Oh baby, Mama’s here.”
- “And I choose to live. Because an increased likelihood of having your heart broken also carries with it an increased likelihood of finding yourself the happiest you’ve ever been in life.”
- “My sister told me she wished I could see what she saw–because what she saw was wonderful. She said I was lucky–that I’d been offered a shortcut to what life is all about when some people search for it their whole lives and never know. She said I had a secret–a secret to happiness and that, while people may look at me and pity me, in time I’d feel like I’d knew something they didn’t.”
- “Once you become a parent… you automatically carry around, for the rest of your life, an increased likelihood of having your heart broken. And it’s a constant fear that we struggle to put to rest.”
- “Here’s a cool thing. There’s a yin and yang to everything, and when yin has you down, yang seems to deliver. For example, while Down syndrome brings with it unexpected challenges–like a life full of therapy visits–our case came with a few silver linings, like a physical therapist named Jonah who happens to be a little bit hot.”
- “I don’t think it ever stops being surreal when you become a mother. It’s just this constant state of I can’t believe I have a baby, I can’t believe I have a two-year-old, I can’t believe I have a kindergartener, I can’t believe I have a teenager, and then one day you wake up, hopefully not sooner than later, and ask yourself, When the hell did I become a grandma?”
Join our private Facebook Group: Empowering Kids with Character. You don’t want to miss the amazing and awesome tips and tricks that is being shared by parents and educators alike!