I am lucky to have a close friend who also has a 2E son (and likely an HG+ daughter). She gets me and she gets my kids. Our kids are normal to us and we can have candid conversations about them without fear of judgement. I count myself very lucky. Statistically, in our small town, I should not have even been able to find her. We live directly across the street from each other and she has been a god-send to my sanity. We use a lot of humour and share a similar sense of humour. Our go-to reaction for any struggle is to make fun of ourselves, our kids and our situation and then discuss how it is that we don't drink more than we do.
I am very open about my children's learning disabilities. Our area has very few resources and I have a facebook page that covers local issues, links to information, etc. Maybe it is depreciating but I find that by focusing on the struggles first, people want to know more about my kids. I try not to overshare but, more often than not, people want to hear that my kids really are ubersmart and will ask about it... almost as if it makes them feel better to know that they have an arsenal with which to combat the LDs. Again, there is A LOT of humour in all of my conversations about my crazy, zany children. I just tell it like it is. I am just as likely to relate a frustration about lack of OT support in school as I am to relay a story about a success.
Humour has gotten us far. I make an awful lot of fun of our situation and our reactions to struggles. We laugh, it's what our family does. Everything is tongue in cheek. "Yup, she's smart. She remembers everything. I find her very handy to have with me in parking lots. She always remembers where I left the car."
