Skip to main content
BlogOur Story

Chloe’s Home – Lemonade!

By August 21, 2014May 15th, 2020No Comments
family_small

“Chloe’s Home!” is what my husband and I laughingly said to each other after I walked up the stairs the other night after arriving home from work and my evening workout. There was stuff strewn from one end of the house to the other. Jeff described the elaborate cat fort that Chloe had devised with bed sheets outside on the upper deck. A plethora of huge trash bags were stuffed with toys, dolls and the like all ready for a grand garage sale Chloe is planning in an effort to make some extra school shopping money.

 
You see, this was the first day Jeff and I came home from work after Chloe’s discharge. We discharged Chloe on a Thursday and immediately headed north for a soccer tournament with Sophia’s team. She did great in Portland over the long weekend and we were so proud of how she used her new skills to communicate when she was overstimulated and struggling.

This first week home has been very successful as Chloe works hard to implement healthy habits and stay on track. Our therapist informs us that changing routines at home will be super difficult for Chloe and hard work. She says that for the past 13 years, Chloe has been on the same path, carving a trench in her mind and among her neurotransmitters. Now, we’re asking her to change the path of those neurotransmitters with only 10 weeks of practice at treatment. She is doing super and is trudging along practicing healthy habits.

This evening we celebrated with the grandparents Chloe’s successful arrival home. We’re so happy to have her back and work on healthy days with her. Yummy lemonade my girl! We are so proud of you!!

 
 

Andrea Berryman Childreth

Author Andrea Berryman Childreth

Andrea Berryman Childreth is an award-winning author of the book, ON THE EDGE: Help and hope for parenting children with mental illness, founder of The Lemonade Project, advocate and parent coach. She has first-hand experience with parenting a mentally ill daughter and has struggled with mental illness, herself. Her goal is to help empower people to openly share their stories and improve access to equitable mental health services.

More posts by Andrea Berryman Childreth