March 21st

World Down Syndrome Day is celebrated on March 21st.  March being the 3rd month of the year, represents the 3 copies of the 21st chromosome, and I think you can guess why the day is the 21st!  Last year the girls and I sported our Down Syndrome Indiana shirts from the Buddy Walk the previous year, but this year I wanted to do something a little more.  I've tried on a few occasions to talk to Jayden about Down syndrome and what it means and how it relates to Sophia, but usually she just looks at me like I'm a crazy woman and ignores the conversation.  Then a few weeks ago I saw THIS on facebook and thought the way this mom explained Down syndrome to her young son about his sister was awesome.  It got me thinking and I decided to ask Jayden's preschool teacher if Sophia and I could come in and read a few children's books to the class about Down syndrome, and from the inspiration I got from this mom in the video, I decided to make my own book about Sophia and what Down syndrome means for her and our family.  I'm really excited about how the book turned out and I'm even more excited to be going to Jayden's school to read it to her class!  I know that her classmates may look at me like I'm a crazy woman too, but if they take anything at all away from us coming in to read to them, I hope they understand that it's okay for someone to be different.  That just because someone may look different or act differently than you, they still have feelings and they still want to be accepted and that most importantly, it's okay to be their friend.