Who Says I'm Small
by
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Somebody once said a mother is an unskilled laborer … somebody never gave a squirmy infant a bath.
Somebody once said it takes about six weeks to get back to normal after you’ve had a baby … somebody doesn’t know that once you’re a mother, normal is history.
Somebody once said a mother’s job consists of wiping noses and changing diapers … somebody doesn’t know that a child is much more than the skin he lives in.
Somebody once said you learn how to be a mother by instinct … somebody never took a three-year-old shopping.
Somebody once said being a mother is boring … somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver’s permit.
Somebody once said teachers, psychologists and pediatricians know more about children than their mothers … somebody hasn’t invested her heart in another human being.
Somebody once said if you’re a ‘good’ mother your child will ‘turn out’ … somebody thinks a child is like a bag of plaster of Paris that comes with directions, a mold and a guarantee.
Somebody once said being a mother is what you do in your spare time … somebody doesn’t know that when you’re a mother, you’re a mother ALL the time.
Somebody once said ‘good’ mothers never raise their voices … somebody never came out the back door just in time to see her child wind up and hit a golf ball through the neighbor’s kitchen window.
Somebody once said you don’t need an education to be a mother … somebody never helped a fourth-grader with his math.
Somebody once said you couldn’t love the fifth child as much as you love the first … somebody doesn’t have five children.
Somebody once said a mother can find all she needs to know about child-rearing in books … somebody never had a child stuff beans up his nose.
Somebody once said the hardest part of being a mother is the labor and delivery … somebody never watched her ‘baby’ get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten.
Somebody once said a mother can do her job with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back … somebody never organized seven giggling Brownies to sell cookies.
Somebody once said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married … somebody doesn’t know that marriage attaches a new son or daughter-in-law to a mother’s heartstrings.
Somebody once said a mother’s job is done when her last child leaves home … somebody never had grandchildren.
Somebody once said being a mother is a side dish on the plate of life … somebody doesn’t know what fills you up.
Somebody once said your mother knows you love her so you don’t need to tell her … somebody isn’t a mother.
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About the Book
I have written “Who Says I’m Small” to serve as a permanent record for my son, Erik. In its pages I hope he will find a deeper understanding of his life and the depth of his parents’ love for him. Erik is an achondroplasic dwarf. He was born in 1969, before the time of research into the cause and effect of this disease. His ability to overcome his perceived handicaps, and his great capacity to give and receive love, are only parts of his specialness.
At the time of Erik’s birth, a dwarf’s life expectancy averaged around 10-12 years. Today there are expansive studies, and the gene causing dwarfism has itself been identified. But what is still missing is an acceptance of dwarfs as viable, productive individuals. I think of my son as being so much like the
But the obstacles continue. Married in 2001, Erik and his wife Heather, also a dwarf and a wonderful daughter-in-law, still face discrimination. After spending the time and effort to complete college, they found career positions still to be elusive. Undismayed, they returned to continue their education in compatible fields, hoping to gain sufficient qualifications to overshadow their small stature. After several years the struggle continues. I cannot do this for them, except to bring their struggle to light as best I can, and help the world adjust to - and admire - children and adults with achondroplasia. You would need only to get to know Erik, to understand.
About the Author
Juanita Tischendorf was born in Philadelphia, spent her adolescence in New Jersey and graduated from Fulton High School in upstate New York. After graduation she pursued secretarial studies at Rochester (NY) Business Institute. Computers eventually attracted her interest, and she became qualified as an instructor, writing books and supporting computer systems. But there was another interest, first a whim and then a passion: serious writing.
Beyond computer books, Juanita has written several works of fiction and self-help books which are targeted for market. Meanwhile a writing course at the University of Washington, and membership in the Writers Guild of America, fueled her self-confidence and prompted completion of the first manuscript she had ever begun: “Who Says I’m Small”.
Achievements and awards for Juanita include a career profile by Rochester’s “About Time” Magazine, and an interview for “Successful Women in Upstate New York” by Syracuse cable TV. More recently came an interview for the “Shades of Gray” program on WOKR-TV in Rochester, and a 2003 Editor’s Choice award for outstanding achievement in poetry. She is listed in the 1991 edition of “2000 Notable American Women”.
Today Juanita runs a home-based computer business in Rochester, NY, where she lives with her husband, Mark.