About the life you wish for your child, peekaboo after the bath, and every care parent’s fear: who will understand him when I am no longer there?
Of course he should just have friends and play football. Or do motocross like his dad used to. And I should be arguing with him about screen time and whether he is allowed his own phone yet. And he should cycle to school by himself and get up to mischief after school. And when he came home he would tease his little brother, or they would collapse in laughter together.
But that is not how it is. At 9 he is still a baby. He still plays with his toot-toot cars. His life is still mostly about eating, drinking, playing, bathing, and going to bed. And I will always find that wondrous.
Today after his bath I played a peekaboo game. I held the towel in front of my face, and every time I pulled it away he jumped out of his skin. For him I was apparently really gone for a moment. And every time again it was a surprise when my face reappeared.
It may sound strange, but somewhere I am glad that he is limited exactly like this. Because with a little more awareness the world might suddenly become very big and complicated for him. Now he wakes up every day without worrying about school, a sports match, or what anyone else thinks of him. He does not care what clothes he wears. He knows no peer pressure, does not fret about tomorrow, and knows nothing of bullies.
He may not see many things that we do see. But that way he luckily also does not see a lot of ugly things.
So my worries are often not about today. They are about later.
I would have wished him a different life and a different future. That feeling will always stay with me. At the same time I will always keep looking for ways to make his life a little easier. To make sure he can also express himself when I am not there.
Because as a care parent that is a deep fear for me: who will care for my child when I am no longer there? Who will understand him the way I do?
And that is exactly why I started making TWIYO.
If TWIYO can help him — and others who cannot speak, or speak with difficulty — bring a little more of themselves to the people around them, then my mission has succeeded: making supported communication available to everyone.
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