Just Like Me: Toys for Kids with Special Needs

This post contains referral links which means that if you purchase from one of my links, I will receive a small percentage of the sale.  Don't worry, this won't cost you any extra!

Kids love it when their toys look like them.  From hair and eye color, to any special needs that they might have, it helps them feel accepted.  They can also help kids feel less afraid of their differences or medical conditions.

My son Davy was only two months old when he had surgery to get his G Tube.  The day before his surgery, a nurse came into his hospital room with a stuffed bunny that had a G Tube just like the one Davy would be getting.  I practiced hooking the extension tube up on the bunny before and after Davy got his feeding tube which was much less stressful than having to practice on my screaming baby.  He got his G Tube out when he was 18 months old, but the bunny still sits on top of his dresser.  I plan to add it to his memory box when he gets older.

Toys that are adapted or created to have special needs or disabilities shouldn't just be for the kids who have them though.  What greater way to teach your child that it's okay to be different, have a feeding tube, or wear leg braces than for them to play with a toy like that?

Handsocks and Eczema Awareness Month

I was compensated in the form of product for this post.  Nevertheless everything in this post is my honest opinion.

October is Eczema Awareness Month.  Mild eczema is usually no more than an annoyance, but for people who have severe eczema, it can be downright miserable.

With four of us diagnosed with asthma, eczema is also a common issue in our family.  Davy's eczema is definitely the worst though.

The poor kid has eczema from head to toe and when it's flaring up, he's so miserable that he can't sleep at night.  He scratches until his skin is raw and open.  I do a skin care routine for him each night that includes a layer of triamcinolone (a prescription steroid cream), vaseline, and then vanicream.  The triamcinolone often burns when it's applied and so understandably, Davy hates his skin care routine.   Periodically, his eczema will flare-up so severely that nothing I do at home can get it under control again.  The only thing that works at that point is a round of Prednisone (an oral steroid) and antibiotics.

What Is Life Like with ALS?

I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and it can make being a mom hard.  My kids know that there are days that Mommy has lots of owies and needs to rest.  I can't do a lot of activities with them like take them to the park or go for walks with them.

My EDS has given me a small taste of what it's like to be a mom with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease).  Sarah from Speed 4 Sarah was diagnosed with ALS when she was 33 and her daughter was just two years old.

ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder.  Early symptoms include muscle cramps and twitching, weakness in the limbs, and difficulty swallowing or speaking.  As it progresses, the muscles atrophy and eventually become paralyzed.  The survival rate is generally 2-5 years after diagnosis.

Giving Back Program Pick for October

In the past, I've selected March as a month to give back by donating a percentage of all sales in the Sunshine and Spoons Shop to a foundation or charity organization.  But now it's time to up the ante.

From now on, I will be selecting a different organization each month to which to donate 10% of all proceeds from the Sunshine and Spoons Shop during that month.  Each month, the new organization will be posted here so you can see who and how your purchases can help.  I'll also post the total from the month before.

As October is Dysautonomia Awareness Month, a cause that is dear to my heart (pun intended for those of you with POTS, haha) 10% off the proceeds from all purchases during the month will be donated to Dysautonomia International.

Be sure to check out the dysautonomia collection at the Sunshine and Spoons Shop to help raise awareness for and continue to fund research for dysautonomia.  Remember though that ALL purchases count towards the donation amount.

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@sunshineNspoons is donating 10% of all shop proceeds to @Dysautonomia International this month!

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Have a suggestion for next month's Giving Back Selection?  Leave it here!

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What are Dysautonomia and POTS?

Did you know that October is Dysautonomia Awareness Month?

Let me back that up a little....do you know what dysautonomia is?

If you said no, you're not alone.  Most people have never even heard of it.  I didn't know what it was either until I was diagnosed with it.

20+ Shops Run by Special Needs & Spoonie Moms

This post contains referral links which means that if you purchase from one of my links, I will receive a small percentage of the sale.  Don't worry, this won't cost you any extra!

Parents who have chronic illnesses and/or children with special needs often have a hard time working a traditional job.  Between therapies, doctor appointments, and low spoon days, a job with flexible hours can make the difference between being able to keep a job or not.  One of the best ways to do that is to be self-employed.

Many special needs/spoonie moms end up starting their own shops online which gives them the flexibility to take care of their kids and themselves.  Want to help support them?  Check out the list I compiled of shops run by special needs/spoonie moms below and do a little shopping.  Christmas will be here before you know it!  

Meet Sarah: Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease Awareness

Charcot-Marie-Tooth...sounds like a fancy dentist, right?

Actually, it's a neurological disorder that was named after the three doctors who first identified it.  It affects approximately 1 in 2,500 people.  Some of the symptoms include foot deformities, muscle weakness and atrophy, loss of sensation, and more.

September is Charcot-Marie-Tooth or CMT awareness month.  Joining me today is Sarah Wells from My Stripy Life to talk about her journey with CMT.

Hannah from Sunshine and Spoons: What condition do you have?

Sarah from My Stripy Life: I have lots of conditions, labels that have been applied to my list of symptoms over the years, my most recent being Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) and the associated co-morbidities. But the one I'm going to tell you a little more about today is my first diagnosis, Charcot Marie Tooth Disease (CMT). It's a peripheral neuropathy affecting the sensory and motor nerves to my arms and legs. I like to think that my bodies nerves are like a system of electrical wires and because of CMT the wiring to my arms and legs is wonky.

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Hannah: How does it affect you? How does it affect your family's daily life?

How to Start an Online T-Shirt Business with Printful

This post contains referral links which means that if you purchase from one of my links, I will receive a small percentage of the sale.  Don't worry, this won't cost you any extra!

When I first started my t-shirt business, I had to figure everything out on my own.  What sites to use, how to set up my website, how to design graphics for my shirts, etc.  It was time-consuming and intimidating to say the least.

Thankfully, I had some experience researching things like that as I'd been running an online shop selling handmade children's clothing and accessories called Annalie's Baby Boutique since 2010.  I loved my shop, but I knew it was time for a change.  I just didn't have the time to devote to it anymore plus my health was deteriorating thanks to Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, and it was getting harder for me keep up.  

I had a lot of designs that I wanted to have printed on shirts, but the idea of having to pay up front to have a bunch of shirts printed that may or may not sell was a little daunting.  That also would mean keeping up on inventory, packaging, and shipping products myself.  And then I found Printful, a print-on-demand company that would take care of all of that for me.  It was exactly what I was looking for.

I closed down Annalie's Baby Boutique and opened the Sunshine and Spoons Shop in September 2016 to go along with my blog, Sunshine and Spoons.

Here are my statistics for the year of 2016.  I opened my shop in mid-September.

Want to open your own print-on-demand t-shirt shop?  Here's how to do it.

How to Make No Sew DIY Rice Heating Pads

This post contains referral links which means that if you purchase from one of my links, I will receive a small percentage of the sale.  Don't worry, this won't cost you any extra!

There are five people in my family who have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, which means that pain is a normal occurrence around.  I prefer to try alternative methods of pain relief such as using essential oils (Panaway is a great one for muscle pain!), massage, ice, and heat before turning to tylenol.

A few weeks ago, I had all four of my wisdom teeth removed and was in excruciating pain for 10 days straight.  After applying ice to both sides of my face for the first 48 hours, the oral surgeon recommended switching to heat.  He said I could heat up the ice packs he'd sent home with me, but they just didn't seem to hold the heat very well so I decided to grab one of our trusty rice socks that I'd made with one of Hubby's (clean!) tube socks instead.  The problem was that it was too big and bulky to work well for my face.  In a rare moment of clarity, I grabbed a leg warmer from the kids' mis-matched sock basket and turned it into a perfectly sized rice heating pad.  

Want to make your own rice heating pads that are the perfect size for kids AND adults?

How to Make a Snot and Chest Rub with Essential Oils

This post contains referral links which means that if you purchase from one of my links, I will receive a small percentage of the sale.  Don't worry, this won't cost you any extra!

I don't know about your kids, but when mine have stuffy noses and coughs, no one sleeps in my house, which makes for cranky kids and a cranky mama.  Thankfully, I have a few tricks up my sleeve to help everyone sleep a little better!

First, I run a diffuser in the sick child's room at bedtime for about 30 minutes with a drop of R.C. oil from Young Living.     

Secondly, I rub some of my Snot and Chest Rub on the bottom of my little one's feet and on his or her chest.  

When I first got some Snot and Chest Rub from my oily friend, I had doubts about how much it would help, but after four sleepless nights with Anna, who was three years old at the time, I was getting pretty desperate.  Guess what?  We both slept all night!!

Want the recipe?  You can find it below.