Despite hearing advice on taking time for ourselves, putting ourselves first and the like,
how many of us actually do it? Do it without any guilt? The truth is that if our own
personal well is dry we literally have nothing to give to anyone else.

Life is so different when you are born with a challenge, rather than acquiring it in later life.

Much has been written about family members living with a loved one with Alzheimer's.  Nancy Reagan used the now-popular term "the long goodbye".  As I was reading another article about a wife caring for her husband with Alzheimer's, I thought about that long goodbye and all of the emotions that come with that.

Im a planner. Long term could easily mean two years from now. Hey, it's never too early to start planning, right? In my pre-BPmom life one of my professional positions was an advance person; the staffer that gets to an event prior to the Big Guy to make sure everything is ready to roll, key people identified, exits marked. I was born for the job. No detail too small, having Plan B, C or D, mapped out and thinking 20 minutes ahead of anyone in the room (that's why they call it advance work). Now my idea of long term is this weekend.
 

You know how you have a different girlfriend for different things? The girlfriend that you go to concerts with. The girlfriend you can travel with. The girlfriend that knows all about you and sticks around anyway. When I first started this journey with son, I had no idea that I would need a girlfriend just to help me with all things bipolar.
 

How many times have you been in a clinician's office, staring at the many diplomas hanging behind the desk and think to yourself: "I know more than THIS guy!"  We have all been in a situation where we found ourselves facing a 'professional' who knew less than we did.  Despite not having any initials after our name (other than MOM or DAD), how is it that we have more knowledge about children's mental health than the 'experts'?  Because while they studied it, we lived it.
 

Ever read Maria Shriver's book Ten Things I Wish I Knew Before I Went Out into the Real World?
 
Aside from being a really great book on life lessons, I read it at a time during which daily life with my son was particularly horrid. With each chapter, I found myself saying, "Man, there are ten things I wish I knew before this hurricane hit my family!" It was then that I became compiling my own Top Ten list of things that all parents should know as they step into this unexpected journey.