Hello! Welcome to my new blog called Keeping You In Mind, a small space in the gigantic world of social media where I’ll mainly be talking about motherhood and sharing stories up-close about our family life in Warwickshire.
I love writing and photography! So, when I joined Instagram back in October 2016 (latecomer), I instantly felt drawn to the mums, women, parents who share every-day life as it unfolds. It’s been right up my street connecting with such fantastic people where some days I feel I have been given a new lease on life. So much positivity, wit and humour in those little squares.
I’m currently a full time mama, so I’m raising 2 little ones. My daughter, Shreya (6) and son Sajjan (3) are the main reason I set this blog up!
After our little boy arrived in May 2015 our life completely changed. Following a low-risk pregnancy and a super quick and intervention-free birth – we later discovered that Sajjan was missing major development milestones and after almost a year’s worth of gruelling appointments, tests and scans and relentless chasing of results we were given some news about “changes in his brain”. At the time, the news didn’t really mean much to us! After all, he was still the same little boy we’d loved for a year and the words “Cerebral Palsy” meant nothing! I just wanted to know what these changes meant for our son? What’s the impact? How did the changes occur? Was it genetic? Was someone to blame? Ultimately, most of these questions are still left unanswered. Most families with children who have CP, have a diagnosis based on an event that happened. Premature birth, complicated labour, viral infection – but none of these applied to us or Sajjan! It’s like we’ve been lumped in this miscellaneous box.
So, he is now 3 and we’ve moved on from the dark and depressed days where we felt alone and isolated. Where nobody ‘it seemed’ had any understanding of what we were going through and neither did we want anybody to understand. What we wanted, was for Sajjan to show us that he wasn’t going to be led by his diagnosis! He was still Sajjan. He was our baby boy that smiled and was happy being him, happy being exactly where he was supposed to be, which was with us. He’s such a bright kid, fortunately his social and cognitive functions aren’t really impaired but he is struggling with speech and movement. His CP affects his whole body but not in the most common way which is to be high toned and rigid – he is in-fact low toned meaning he has to work much harder to develop his muscles, particularly in his upper body which is the main weakness. He is making huge progress, so we’re feeling much more reassured than before and I love to capture footage of him regularly just to see those development milestones coming. And they absolutely are! He’s a determined child so I know he will be fine!
I knew I wasn’t going to return to work once my maternity leave ended. So many women feel conflicted about returning to work during maternity leave, I was one of them! But, I also felt like I was now the main person that could influence Sajjan’s next few years. The years that research shows are most significant to a child’s development. I have been fortunate enough to be able to stay at home and be there for both children and since have carved a new little family life for us. Things don’t always happen the way we want them to, and there’s so much uncertainty ahead and each day, there’s different questions about which school he will go to, will he walk, will he be able to express himself with words one day, will he be independent enough to not need us eventually. However, the beauty of it all is that we now only focus on each day at a time – not 5 or 10 years from now! And that mind-set has been the game changer to every single aspect of life for me, it’s made me mindful. Mindful of every day and appreciating little victories. It’s hard to not become obsessed with what happens next all the time, but remaining focused on just a day at a time seems to be a lovely thing.
Since giving up work as an IT Recruitment Consultant, I now manage all of Sajjan’s therapy and his learning alongside the professionals. It’s a world that’s completely new for me and sometimes it’s thankless, draining and still isolating at times but I’ve learned to not let this take over us. We still have a beautiful and crazy little family, Shreya our daughter has the most fun and outgoing personality. She’s my absolute best friend on the planet (she always features on my main grid) and my husband Amar is my strength in many ways. We’ve been together for 15 years and married for 11 which feels like an eternity but I can honestly say we’ve shared the best times since the beginning.
Last April, I completed a Social Media Management Course with Digital Mums. I had to develop a live campaign about something I was passionate about to bring me up to speed with all the platforms within social media. My Instagram posting really started there as it had to be honest and real. It’s not a business, it’s just a hobby, and by creating my own little blog to share my journey I hope to connect with so many others in the way that others connected with me previously and now. Especially the SEN parents, they’re just some of the strongest you’ll ever meet.
On here, you’ll find me sharing places we go to with the children, recipes of every day food we love, baking tips, sibling updates, family trips and also some self-care! Keeping You In Mind is just that, it’s a blog that reminds you to put yourself first sometimes, to grab those opportunities where you can be you. There’s lots of us doing similar things, I appreciate! But, I’ll be doing it in my own way and would be lovely to see or meet some of you along the way!
Lastly, I am here to help raise as much awareness of CP and disability in children, but to do it in the most positive and uplifting way.
Thanks for coming by xxx
Sandeep! Can’t wait. Vibha x