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“Mom, is Austen OK?” Addi, my 13-year-old daughter, was on the school bus headed home last week when she sent me the text. I was confused but assured her that her 6-year-old sister, who has Dravet syndrome, was fine. It turns out that…

I sent my two youngest children back to school earlier this month. While their oldest sister, Addi, 13, returned to school in November, neither my son, Atlas, 8, nor his younger sister, Austen, 6, had set foot in a classroom in 22 months. We took…

I sent my two youngest kids back to school this month for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. I wasn’t too worried about my son, Atlas, 8. He has thrived through two years of home schooling. He’s a grade ahead in math and a great reader, too, although…

I took all three of my children out of school on March 13, 2020, the day before our local school district decided to switch to remote learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was because our youngest daughter, Austen, 6, has Dravet syndrome. In the past, something as seemingly minor…

In June 2016, I packed up my home in Texas, my three children, and my entire life, and moved 752 miles away to Colorado in search of hope. Hope that we could delay putting my youngest daughter, Austen, on another serious anti-epileptic drug to treat her worsening seizures, caused by…

Our lives are changing, and this time, it isn’t due to the effects of Dravet syndrome. I have mostly been a stay-at-home mom for the last 11 years. I have a degree in elementary education, but when we had our second child, Atlas, who is now 7, I figured I…

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. An entire day dedicated to food? That’s right up my alley. Usually, we stay home in Colorado to cook and relax as a nuclear family, and our day is sprinkled with phone calls from family in Texas to wish us well…

After 20 months, the kids are returning to school. One of them, anyway. Originally, we were going to wait until all three kids had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before we allowed any of them to return to school. But Addi, 13, has…

I’m the only person on my block who has their Christmas tree up, and I have zero shame about that. Usually, it goes up on Nov. 1, but this year, I managed to wait until the 4th to get my decorations out. The reason is that I hate November, a…

Twenty months. That’s how long it’s been since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. and I withdrew my kids from school. I was terrified for all three of them, but especially my daughter Austen, 6, who has Dravet syndrome. Fewer children have been sick with COVID-19 than adults, and…