About

Special needs mom blogger

Hi, I’m Laurie and I have many different roles including mother, wife, educator, blogger, daughter, special needs parent, and friend. I’m so glad you are here. 

My mission at Life with a Side of the Unexpected is to help you find balance in the chaos, experience joy in the messy moments and make the most of your unique parenthood journey.

We face the unexpected every day as we try to perfectly navigate our careers, parenting, household duties, marriages, hopes and dreams. 

My goal is to help you find purpose in the mayhem and eliminate the burnout of chasing after unrealistic expectations.

I’m here to help you unapologetically practice self-care, dream big, laugh often and live fully all while allowing ourselves grace for the imperfect and unexpected moments. 

We special needs parents need to connect, provide each other with camaraderie and support. Hopefully you can relate to my posts and feel a sense of comfort that “I get it” and you are not alone.

I look forward to getting to know you more! Be sure to comment on a blog post to say Hi! and sign up to be on our email list for exclusive material.

START WITH ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR POSTS:

How to Cope with Depression as a Special Needs Parent 

Dealing with Isolation as a Special Needs Parent

Organize Your Household With A Family Command Center

How to Help Children With Transitions

Self-Care Tips for Special Needs Parents

9 Comments

  1. Elise Johnston Reply

    LOVE to see this all; CONGRATULATIONS! I’ve been working towards focussing my Health Coaching (based on Mindfulness) to parents of high needs kids. I need to earn a living but want to be helpful where I have experience & passion. I have a few projects up my sleeve including a mini illustrated de-stress book which I’ll share once it’s ready (maybe another month or two?). Anyways, I just signed up for newsletter & will be in touch. CHEERS

    • Hi Elise! Oh I love the sound of that de-stress book. Please do share! It’s a great feeling when you get to merge your experience and passion. 🙂

  2. Gilda Evans Reply

    Might you be interested in being a guest on a podcast for my Patreon page?
    https://www.patreon.com/GEspecialneeds

    • Hi Gilda – I am not all that familiar with the world of podcasting, but I’d love to discuss this more. Email me at so we can chat. I look forward to hearing from you.

  3. Jane Kleiman Reply

    Hi Laurie,
    So glad to stumble upon your website! I too am working to help special needs parents find ways to integrate self-care into their lives and find ways to feel less alone and isolated through a monthly yoga and support circle called The Calm Within The Chaos. We meet in person and we can also meet online. Would love to connect with you. Thanks for what you’re doing!

    • Hi Jane – I’d love to connect. Shoot me an email at Would love to do yoga more regularly. It’s always helped me when I can fit it in!

    • I’m not even sure how I found your website but I’m glad I did! Im looking forward to reading your blogs and finding some much needed support as I navigate through this relatively new role as a special needs mom.

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