After much encouragement from friends, I'm starting this blog to journal the unique adventures of my daughter Meredith. More than anything, I don't want to lose the stories that she shares with me because as you'll find out, they are very intricate and dynamic diaries of her inner world. But first let me introduce myself.
My name is Angela, but I go by Angé. (It is pronouced Angie, but I was named after a great aunt who owned a fashionable dress shop in small town, Wisconsin. My theory was that she was adding a little flair to her name with the accent. It's usually too much trouble to find the "é," so I typically just write, "Ange." More information than you needed? I just hate that people think I'm calling myself "Ang" when I write "Ange.") I am a stay-at-home Mom married to Tom--another interesting character! I have two children--Meredith who is now 11 years old and Tyler who is 7. We live in Texas, but have roots up North. My husband and I met each other at the Unversity of Pittsburgh when we lived next door in apartments behind what used to be the old Forbes Field for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Fast forward through years of graduate school, long distance dating, first jobs, marriage, and raising two children. Things in this predictable life pattern changed dramatically when my daughter was 10 years old and in fourth grade. I discovered that she had a extremely vivid visual way of thinking and learning. And I mean extremely and vivid. I'll unwrap all the details on how I discovered this. Those discoveries have led to changes in our family relationships, changes in schools, discovering parts of my husband that I never knew, and discovering a whole new perspective on learning "disorders" and/or divergent thinking. I have come a long way and now I can truly say I admire and appreciate the gifts that the extreme visual minds possess--gifts that are so often misunderstood and unrecognized. I hope to share with you what I have learned and experienced and I hope you'll be entertained by my (or Meredith's) stories.
For those of you who may find similar patterns in your children, I look forward to helping you in any way that I can, for I have learned a lot. And what I've learned is not found in your typical parenting books. Fortunately, I see more and more information about parenting this type of child, but you wouldn't really know to look for these sources unless you knew what you were really dealing with in the first place. And even if you did access these resources, these are complex kiddos and I can't imagine anyone mastering how to parent them without lots and lots of practice. But by that time, they'll be up and out! We can still try though...
Oh, I almost forgot. I never told you about Merebith. Merebith is the little girl that helps my daughter Meredith with all the inner workings in her mind. You'll come to learn all about her soon. I have decided for now to type "Merebith" in italics to help you decipher between her and Meredith.
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