Tina Szymczak

November 18, 2015

It Takes Its Toll

We adopted our first child when I was 28 years old. My plan had been to have at least one kid by the age of 25. We struggled with infertility and since I wasn’t having babies I instead focused on my career in early intervention. I worked my way up to my dream job and the same week I found out I got the job we also found out we were adopting a little boy. A little boy with big blue eyes and an endearing smile. Also a little boy that NEVER stopped moving and was constantly getting himself into trouble. I didn’t know it was going to be so exhausting day in and day out. It wouldn’t have been […]
November 15, 2015

Something Typical

I first knew something was amiss when 5 year old Jeremy said from his car seat “Mom let’s have a meeting” . I looked at him in the rear view mirror and asked “Why should we have a meeting?” “Because you have meetings for Corbin all the time. You are always at a meeting. I want to have a meeting”.  I worked hard not to cry as it settled in just how much time we were spending on Corbin’s life and how little we spent on Jeremy. “What would we do at the meeting?” I asked “Do stuff that I want” and then he paused before saying “I will bring the pens and paper and you bring the Brownies”. Such […]
November 7, 2015

Update

So all is well in the Szymczak household (knock on wood) and it will be overwhelmingly better for Adam and I as we head to Las Vegas on Monday.  It will be our first time there and we are super stoked to go.  Adam’s mom will be watching both boys (keep her in your prayers). Corbin will still have his support staff so all will be good I am sure. In other great news I stepped on the scale the other day and I have lost 10lbs!. Great way to start a vacation.
October 28, 2015

Middle Of A Long Row

The weeks leading up to October 24, 2009 were very difficult ones. Corbin had been what we termed “spinning” – meaning that he had very high energy, was difficult to engage in anything meaningful, was having trouble at school and just seemed insatiable in so many ways.  Add to that his stutter and difficulty trying to “get his words out” they were all  impacting heavily on his day to day life. On Tuesday October 7th, 2009 my husband and I were notified by Corbin’s school that he had run from school property and was making statements about wanting to harm himself. Due to Corbin’s complex needs he can be very impulsive and reactive, yet he had never left school property […]
October 27, 2015

Our Son Had a Positive Transition to High School

Our Son had a Positive Transition to High School:    Why? Good Planning, Respect for Parental Knowledge and Excellent Teamwork High school was coming fast and just the thought of it filled me with dread. Our son, Corbin, was still only attending school part time in the 8th grade. This was due to many factors and was agreed upon by all parties including us, his parents. He had support of an Educational Assistant (EA) though we felt the EA was not a good match for Corbin and was part of the reason he was not flourishing at elementary school. Thinking of high school was daunting particularly because he has a lot anxiety and does not do well with change. The idea […]
October 18, 2015

To the 28 Year Old Me

You are about to meet the most adorable little boy who will make you a mother. His smile and laugh are the best. He gives hugs like no other and his inquisitiveness is infectious.  Your first few weeks of being a mom will mostly be wonderful. The first sign that things aren’t as amazing as they are meant to be is when you find yourself crying in Zellers in the sock aisle because no one has taught you what size of socks a 3 year old needs and there are so many choices. But don’t worry. No one saw you cry. That will come later. I probably don’t need to tell you that the crying over socks isn’t really about […]