Thanks Steemit you helped us give my disabled daughter an amazing 7th birthday!
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Today was my daughter's 7th birthday, and steemit helped us make it fantastic for her. Money can get a bit tight at times with two severely disabled children, certain things have to take priority over the little luxuries most take for granted.
The thing is my partner @ausbitbank wrote a post that was fairly successful, so we had some extra money we wouldn't normally have available to us - even after yet another visit to the mechanic. This meant I was able to take my daughter shopping with me and let her go wild, she got choose what she really wanted for herself.
Normally I wouldn't dare do this as she has no concept of money or possession - and she's a constant flight risk. When she see's something she likes she doesn't understand why I can't just get it for her. This usually results in a massive meltdown, not really what I'm trying to encourage for her birthday.
So yesterday my daughter and I embarked on a rare trip to the shops together, in the hopes she would be able to choose what she would like for her birthday. I only had to tell her once, that if she liked something to point to it and if after a closer look she still liked it, we could take it home.
After a few minutes she was using her arms to propel herself and the trolley along the aisle, to get to the next toy that caught her attention. When she got to her chosen toy she would pull it off the shelf and if she really liked it, she would start calling out "Open! Open!" at the top of her lungs. She got some looks but was too happy to notice.
It is rare for her to choose to speak unprompted, it really showed how motivated and excited she was. I would calm her down and explain, waiting until she got home and whilst a little overwhelmed, once she had a couple of small toys lined up on the shopping trolley handle she was content to wait.
She was so happy and for her, really well behaved in a highly stressful environment. I will always remember hearing her say "Ducky", when she found a baby she liked that had a little duck as an accessory. I would have to say it was the best trip we have ever taken to the shops together, it really made my day to see her really enjoying herself.
By the end of our trip she was exhausted and ready for bed (and so was I). She woke the next morning to find our lounge room filled with her presents, already unboxed and left unwrapped. It took us until four am this morning to finish cleaning up the room unboxing all of the toys and setting everything up. (We do this because they can't handle the stress of getting into the containers or waiting for something to be assembled, it all must be done first if you don't want tears.)
When she first came out to see all her new toys, she didn't know where to start after a good 5 minutes of jumping and flapping she settled on her new my little ponies. She has spent the entire day playing with her new toys, normally she would always go back to her old favourites by the end of the day. Not today she couldn't get enough of them, there wasn't a single toy left unused which I don't think has ever happened before.
So thank you to Steemit without this platform and community, this amazing day wouldn't have been possible for our little girl. I will always remember this day, how happy it made my daughter and how Steemit helped it become a reality.
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