A Typical Family of Four
A satirical poem about my neurodivergent family
I have a family of four.
Not typical. But blended.
Actually, there are six of us.
If you count the stepchildren.
I certainly do!
The nicest Nebraskan suburban family
We’re not a White family
People like a good mixed-race family
My partner is melanin-compromised
I’m…well…obviously doing okay for myself
The children are a bit of both
My family goes against the grain
Not 1950s Dad at work and Mom at home
We switch it up
We’re like the typical lesbian household
I go to work
Mom goes to work
I’m a dad and a mom and I still pay the rent.
We’re also progressive.
When we say “lean back,” we mean lean to the left.
Neither of us put Trump in office
In 2016 one of us didn’t vote at all.
She voted for high school president.
She keeps me young.
What I mean by “we’re different”
Is that we try to “stay relevant”
We’re a neurodivergent family!
Those whose brains think differently.
It’s important to keep up with the cool kids these days!
You may think, that is so great!
Everyone loves neurodiversity today
ADHD, Depression, Anxiety, Autism, Mental Illness.
We welcome it all.
And…Well…You’re not wrong
We support all of that
We advocate for all of these traits in our own children
I stand by it with both feet, ten toes, and nails to match.
My big boy Walter deals with ADHD
He constantly gets distracted
And staunchly hyperfocused
He forgets to eat and never listens
His OCD has him repeatedly touch anything new around him
Little Stevie is all about his OCD
He constantly chatters
And he can’t stop kissing people
We’re a little bit worried but so positive about it!
And he’s working hard on developing healthy boundaries
All four of us have OCD.
We’ve got ADHD too.
Depression? Got it.
Anxiety? Yup. Had it from the beginning.
We are trendsetters
Forward-thinking
We each accept the challenges life hands us every day
By each of us, I mean
Me
My girlfriend
Steve the Cat
Oh, and Walter the Dog
