Wearing an older/disabled child (article)

I recently saw this athleta.net article on a mom who wears her 9-year-old in a (custom) Mei Tai since her child has spina bifida and cerebral palsy. It gives her daughter access to the world that she couldn't with the limitations of wheelchair accessibility. I think it's awesome! :]

RACHEL COLEMAN is a runner, hiker, skier and super-mom. While her most important job is being a mom, she also has a successful career as a singer-songwriter and she is the co-creator and host of Signing Time, an Emmy nominated television and DVD series that teaches children to communicate using American Sign Language (ASL).

As the mother of Leah, who was born deaf, and Lucy, who was born with cerebral palsy and spina bifida, Rachel’s primary fitness goal is to continue to strengthen her body so she can show her children a world where anything is possible. The only way 9 year-old Lucy can experience the world beyond her wheelchair is if someone is strong enough to carry her there. So when Rachel’s trainer asked why she wanted to get fit, Rachel responded, “I don’t need to be skinny. I don’t care if I lose any more weight. I just really need to be able to dead-lift 50 lbs over and over and over, every single day of my life.”

Although Rachel’s fitness goals weren’t focused on appearance, she has gone from a size 14/16 to a 2/4 in the past two years through weight training, running and healthy food choices. She feels her biggest accomplishments in life are not the ones that will ever be rewarded with medals or applause. The biggest accomplishments are moments like these with her daughter:

“In August, I was hiking a steep trail in Yellowstone with Lucy on my back, we had just seen a beautiful waterfall. I was breathing hard but still working my way up the trail. Lucy leaned in close and whispered: ‘Mom, this is what you are training for.’ And Lucy was right. There really is no finish line. We are training for life.”
http://www.athleta.net/chi/featured-athletes/rachel-coleman/

Re: Wearing an older/disabled child (article)

I read this article earlier and loved it!

Re: Wearing an older/disabled child (article)

This brought tears to my eyes. That's awesome. Smile

Re: Wearing an older/disabled child (article)

i read this as well. this is inspiring, as my ds has low muscle tone and he spends many days on my back. i have a feeling i will be wearing him much longer than i wore my dd.

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