"...Because Joaqui has brothers, he will always have the best of friends..."
I have 3 boys. My eldest is 16, my second is 9 and my youngest is 2. Maybe the universe knows that I am “one of the boys” since childhood til my high school days so I think I was destined to have all boys kids and it’s perfectly fine with me.
My second child was diagnosed with Global Developmental Delay since he was only 1 year old. His delayed motor skills, intellectual disability, low social skills and speech delay are the factors why he wasn’t capable of earning a lot of friends at home and in school. He couldn’t cope up with their role-playing games and he doesn’t understand most of the kids’ petty talks about the newest toys in the market, the places that they want to visit, up to their favorite cartoons on TV because of his speech delay. Another thing is, he is hyperactive so most of his actions like being giddy, roaming and jumping around, and most of his “kakulitan” were often mistaken as being rude by his playmates. So, they ended up transferring to another spot to continue their play and leave Joaqui behind.
Of course it is really a heart break for a mom like me. If only I could yell at those children and tell them “Who do you think you are, huh? You better go back to your parents and ask them to teach you some manners!”
Hahah. I’m a mom, you couldn’t blame me for defending my special needs child. But I definitely don’t want to be cruel. What I always do is I’ll get my son back inside the house and have their brothers play with him.
I just hope that some parents will talk to their kids and explain to them that there are kids like Joaqui who needs a lot more understanding and patience and that he has feelings, he can be hurt and he also needs friends. I hope they’ll teach them on how to deal with special needs kids and to be the best children with good manners that they can be because us parents, owe it to them.
My kids have a seven-year-each gap. Ken is already seven years old when I had Joaqui and Joaqui is already 7 when I had my youngest Miguel.
Having Miguel was unplanned. We were hesitant before to have another baby because of my high risk pregnancy every time. And considering that we have Joaqui whom we know that a lifetime responsibility because of his condition, we’re afraid that it’s gonna be harder for us.
But, things have changed when Miguel is growing as a smart, thoughtful and loveable happy child. We noticed that Joaqui is so fond of him. He takes care of his baby brother, he feeds him with cookies, he teaches him the alphabet and they are becoming the best of friends. We can see that our two other kids continually impart a big help when it comes to Joaqui’s development.
My husband and I are so thankful that God has blessed us with another child who surely will take good care of Joaqui. Aside from Kuya Ken, I know it’s gonna be a big help that there will be another one immediate family member who'll look after Joaqui when the time comes that we aren’t that healthy and strong enough to take care of him. "Iba yung may mga kapatid ka."
It was so heart warming to watch my kids get along with each other. Though they also have small fights like any other siblings, I can see their affection and love for each other. I know they’ll stay that way til they grow old into fine God-fearing men because they belong to a family that is surrounded by love like ours.
We are so glad because Joaqui has brothers. He will always have the best of friends.
💖Ken, Joaqui, Miguel💖
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