It's cuter to be kind

What will happen when my child with special needs isn't seen as cute? <---- I shared this post awhile back when it was first written, but I thought I'd share it again. It's a touchy subject for sure because no one wants to admit to thinking this way, but in all honesty, we do. If we're lucky, we learn to talk ourselves out of those negative thoughts, somewhere between the ages of 20-30 usually. For the saints among us, maybe sooner.

I will be honest here, I think my kids are adorable, both physically and their personalities. And I'm sure they might even grow up to be "cute". (Just for the record: if not, I'm totally okay with that). But what I find myself thinking more and more lately the older my daughter gets is "what if she talks the way she talks when she's 10? 15? 20?" She walks around repeating these cute little random phrases, probably from some tv show or movie and we all laugh and smile because she's 5 and it is cute. But will it be cute when she's 10? 15? 20? Probably not so much. And how will people respond to her if she walks around talking like that? Will they still give her a chance? Maybe so, maybe not. It's a hard thing for a parent to come to terms with. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it for the time being, because the future is so unknown for all of us. And after all, she is only 5. She may grow out of it. If not, I will still love her just as much as I do now. It's the rest of the world I worry about. So please world, be kind...even if you don't think it's "cute".