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I’m always looking for special things to do with my daughter. Because as the kid of a sibling with special needs, she has her own special needs—as in, she deserves extra attention, too.
I wasn’t sure I would be able to top our Katy Perry concert outing back in July. I mean, I’ve taken her out for brunch. We’ve done paint-your-own pottery. On occasion we go shopping at the mall (if it were up to her, we’d go every single day). And we have quality together time: When I come home from work, we hang on the couch and talk about stuff that happened during the day. Most mornings, she wakes me up by crawling into bed next to me.
I’ve been thinking about getting some sort of matching jewelry for us. Growing up, my mom, sister and I all had matching gold necklaces with our names in script, and we loved them. Then I discovered Chinchar/Maloney Fine Jewelry, a company based out of Portland, Oregon that makes beautiful birthstone bracelets along with one-of-a-kind handmade earrings, necklaces and charms in gold and silver. Sabrina chose our matching set—sterling silver, with delicate blue topaz and moissanite stones—and they sent them to us. They’re not our actual birthstones, she just liked the colors.
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What we got
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The bracelets came in cool boxes
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I so love her hands, which still have little-kid in them even though she’s 9 (going on 40)
Sabrina and I literally took our new bracelets out for a walk after we got them: We cruised around the neighborhood because she wanted to show them off to friends. We wear them all the time, her to school and me to work, or to events together on weekends. Sometimes, when I’m at my office, I’ll look down at my bracelet and think of her. “Sabrina, do you think of me when you look at your bracelet?” I asked her. “No, Mommy, I think the bracelet looks so sparkly!” she said. KIDS!
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I have my eye on these Cherry Blossom Earrings in Silver for Sabrina’s birthday present
The company is family-run by couple Colin Chinchar and Marian Maloney, along with Colin’s sister Lorien plus a pug named Roy (aka the Cuteness Supervisor). They recently donated profits from sales to Special Olympics, and now they’re offering to help with a cause that’s important to our family. For any jewelry purchased between between now and November 5, 2014, they will donate 7 percent of every birthstone piece sold to Friendship Circle, an organization that runs programs for kids with special needs (we’re doing the Friendship Circle walk at the end of October to raise funds). Max has participated in activities for years, and adores them. The company is also offering a 10 percent discount on any jewelry for the next 30 days; just enter the code BIRTHSTONE at checkout.
Thanks to C/M for the beautiful bracelets—and for having 14k hearts.
From my other blog:
5 secrets of special needs parent happiness
The simple gesture that transformed my crappy day
What my child with cerebral palsy taught me: Parents share
Images of bracelet and earrings: Chinchar/Maloney
