Tamara K Anderson

When I was 8 years old, my family moved to Argentina for 3 years. I vividly remember my first day at school with children speaking a foreign language I was trying to learn. It felt like all of the kids in the entire school formed a mob around us our first time on the playground. It was very intimidating and I remember wishing I could just disappear. It did get better, but I wasn’t used to such attention.

I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up, but I found I did get a little nauseous on some roller-coasters and figured I’d never be able to withstand astronaut training.

I love the heroine of the novel, a young, beautiful young lady by the name of Marianne Daventry who is grieving the death of her mother and being left with her grandmother while her father when to France to deal with his wife’s death. She misses everything about her former life, and feels she is not particularly great or noticeable in any area of her life compared to her twin sister Cecily.

My husband asked my father for advice after we first got married. We were both surprised by his answer, but have found it to be the best advice. “Put God first and your spouse second.”

Each child with autism is unique. It is important to learn to communicate with them, even in simple ways (if they are non-verbal). When they feel understood and that they can have and make choices, it decreases frustration. Also, since these kiddos often don’t sleep well, I strongly recommend that the parents find things which will help their child (and them) sleep better. The better everyone sleeps, the more behavior improves.

I got the initial idea from my sister-in-law, Jenny. After telling her something I had learned parenting my special needs kiddos she said, “You should write a book.” I think I laughed because I was in survival mode and had no time or extra energy to write. But that thought stayed with me, and God is persistent. I kept thinking of all of the other parents who feel completely alone and forgotten raising special needs kiddos and I knew I needed to share some of the wisdom and hope I had—that we can make it.

Some people talk too much and some people it is like pulling teeth to get them to share their story.

Releasing a podcast consistently, good audio, and being willing to be open and honest about you and your story.

I went through several title ideas and polled my audience and let them pick the final name. I wanted the name to be able to tell what exactly the podcast was about.

Oh yes! I find it interesting that we often forget the battle scenes of our lives. We remember they were hard, but we forget the details. As I wrote my book, Normal for Me, my editor kept asking me to dive deeper and tell more details. The problem was I couldn’t remember. So, I had to go back to what little journaling I had done at the time, and re-read my sorrow, heartache, as well as my joys. As I re-read my journals I remembered and wept. I actually ended up including many journal entries to make it more real.

One of my favorite quotes about hope is by influencer Dr. Benjamin Hardy. He said, “You can’t have hope without a goal.” Establishing even a small and simple goal and doing it boosts our self-confidence. Then you set another little goal and do that. One of the keys is making sure your goal is something you can accomplish independent of other people. By setting and accomplishing little goals we begin to build hope back.

I launched it as I got ready to print and produce my book, Normal for Me.

I am most proud of the fact that I have been able to juggle work and mothering at the same time—because there are times my kiddos still need help.

I am releasing a booklet called, “The Mother’s Mite” for Mother’s Day this year and I have a song I am releasing in the next month or two as well called, “Don’t Give Up.” Both the booklet and the song inspire hope for those who feel broken, alone and like they need help.

I think I joined free first, but then upgraded to a pro-member. I really like what you guys offer and have been impressed with the membership.