Description

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REVISED SECOND EDITION: Mad Random: Claiming Life Out Of Chaos chronicles one family's struggle to find normalcy while raising a son with severe emotional disabilities. Brutally honest, yet laugh out loud funny, this book shines a light on the anxiety, heartbreak and rage experienced by thousands of families seeking acceptance for their difficult, quirky children. This wild, gritty book ultimately leads readers to the miracles of hope and love.

I was asked recently what I hope people will learn from reading this new edition of Mad Random: acclaiming Life Out of Chaos. I am truly in awe of parents who gracefully answer the call to parent difficult kids. They teach me something every day for my Blog, madrandomparenting.com, and in my writing coaching work. There's nothing I can give to these heroes except my invitation to find joy, love fully, believing in the gift of today. My wish is that reading this latest revision book can help provide parents and families inspiration and encouragement.

Praise For…

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I have a son who is different, who doesn’t measure up to the community standard for active, healthy children. Ironically, he doesn’t measure up to the standards for disability either. He is smart, funny, capable, and missing a piece of sanity, or clarity, or who knows what?



That day of being settled never came, but Sam (my husband) and I held on. If we had one good day with our son, I was capable of forgetting months of Jack’s tantrums and erratic behavior. We ate a meal together, went for a walk, or enjoyed a friend’s birthday without Jack creating a dangerous or stressful incident. So desperate to end the nightmare, I saw each of these indicators of normalcy as a new beginning for our family. Forget that you couldn’t string enough happy events together in a month to fill four days.



A mother of a young girl once called in tears, telling me, No one who hasn’t been there will ever get what it’s like to have a kid you can’t control. It’s not just about what will happen to my daughter. It’s about what will happen to all of us. These people (teachers and doctors) forget that we have to go home with these children. They forget that we are alone for days and days with children they can’t manage for an hour. Amen to that.