When I was a parent of three young children, I was surrounded by activity: meals, baths, changing and bedtimes. I was exhausted, and despite having family and friends in town, I felt scared and lonely a lot. My husband was at work full time, and he wasn’t always patient with my “what if” questions.

Doctor visits were medical.  I knew that my activity wasn’t a substitute for caring about how my children were developing. I bought books about child development, but I fell asleep while reading them. If I had known about Connections, my mind would have been at ease. As it was, suddenly no one outside the family could understand the sounds coming out of my twins. Some people—myself included—thought it was “cute” that my boys had their own language.  I waited until it was time for them to start school, and finally had them evaluated for hearing loss and speech delay.

The Connections program would have caught their delay sooner.  I’m proud to serve at Family Futures, where “what if” questions or parenting challenges are normal and embraced.