World Down Syndrome Day 2025💛
I’m nursing a sick child today so I’m pretty much confined to the couch cuddling and caring for Maisie. I’m also reflecting on what an amazing couple of weeks we’ve had with the video drops on social media of Maisie and the other people who were involved in Down Syndrome Ireland’s campaign for WDSD. It was magical and emotional to see them and Caolan and I were blown away by how professional they looked and how they captured Maisie’s playful personality. They are images to cherish. She even got her picture taken with the Taoiseach so had become quite the celebrity!
Being a mum to three young children, well my eldest just turned twelve but it feels so busy and full on most of the time. Then when you think things are settling one of them gets sick so the pressure of parenting is never ending! But it’s so important to look after yourself and I know how lucky I am that I get time to look after my mental health. I took myself off to see the latest Bridget Jones movie, it had already been out for weeks so to my delight I had the theatre all to myself to lounge in a huge armchair and cried and laughed throughout. After I came out I saw Maisie on a digital pod in the shopping centre, all smiles and playing with lots of socks(see the pics above) and I was overcome with pride for our gorgeous girl. I had one mum friend tell me she loved seeing these images of Maisie in town and I can imagine anyone who got a glimpse of her would have smiled and felt a connection with this delightful little girl. Maisie’s daddy and I say it time and time again, we don’t see her disability we just see Maisie. Of course she needs some extra help with her speech and language and toileting skills (the latter deserves a whole blog post all to itself!) and it is important to advocate for her until she can do so herself.
On World Down Syndrome Day parents and their kids were invited to DSI headquarters where a fun morning was hosted by two fabulous Speech and Language therapists, Olive and Sylvia followed by treats for the little ones and tea/coffee for the parents. It was an opportunity to get to chat to other parents and for me to catch up with the wonderful team who organised the video. On our way out we were lavished with gifts and teddies for Maisie and her siblings. It felt very special to celebrate WDSD especially knowing so many participate in it the world over.
