I need to vent about situation with SD’s nutritionist. I had been trying to get help from other moms of special needs kids to see what they actually deal with gluten free/dairy free diets with picky eaters and I felt like I was under attack as “the stepmom” who was clearly not doing everything possible and if I was a “real” mom I would be doing a million other things to help SD.

I wish I could relax for the Thanksgiving holiday and enjoy time with my family, but no, of course not. SD has to make everything a 1000x more complicated. My mom's brother and his family are in town. You'd think it would be nice to visit with them. This afternoon they were at my sister's house enjoying her pool and the 90+ degree weather here. SD is 16. You'd think she wouldn't cause more problems than my 4 year old, but she does and just ruins everything.

I had quite a bit of advice about equine therapy in previous blog posts and I wanted to let everyone know that at least at first it did work quite well. SD is SD, so things went south quickly. But I can see how it could be successful. There’s a great equine therapy program about 30 minute drive from us and I was very impressed with everyone who worked there and their facility and they were fantastic with SD.

We’re getting ready for SD to come back home sometime next week. DH is still trying to figure out when he can get off work and the logistics. The other decision is then he needs to decide on a step-down facility for her so it’s another group of therapists and doctors getting involved in the treatment. I know I need to worry less about them judging us, but I can’t help it. I want to be a good stepmom, but I know I’m not. But I don’t want anyone blaming me for SD being the way she is.