When Solly first began Physical and Occupational Therapy after he was released from the NICU, I was distraught if he missed an appointment. I mean, “end of the world, he was going to fall so far behind if we miss one appointment” distraught. I’d occasionally cancel an appointment if we were going to travel to visit family, but I did whatever I could to schedule a makeup appointment as if he needed to have a specified number of therapy appointments to go from atypical to typical.

Our very intuitive PT noticed my neuroticism and reminded me that Solly’s recovery isn’t a sprint, but it’s a marathon and therapy visits aren’t the only piece of the puzzle to help his brain recover and rewire. Exposure to different experiences and environments would be just as beneficial to his journey as therapy.

Keeping this in mind, we try to take a break away from therapy every few months for a vacation or staycation. Last month, we cancelled all therapy appointments, packed up the family of four and headed to the mountains for a 10 day vacation. We rented a home in Breckenridge, Colorado, and met some of our friends from Washington, DC, and New York City for some baby play time (both families each had a daughter) and some fun friend catch up time over hikes and dinners. I even got to connect in person with a fellow stroke survivor’s Mom who lives in Denver and who I’d only previously spoken to via text or Facebook.

It was a much needed break away from our daily life of appointments!