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Find Out Why Lisa Russolillo
Loves Providing Child Care!
MY STORY
Welcome! My name is Lisa Russolillo. I grew up in Plano, Texas, a large suburb located just outside Dallas, Texas. I graduated with honors with a BA degree in Psychology from the University of North Texas in 1994. During my final semester at UNT, I knew I wanted to pursue a master’s degree, but I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to study. Fortunately, I had an opportunity to work with a professor on his study of children with autism. This amazing hands-on experience allowed me to realize my passion in life: working with special needs children.
After graduation, I applied to the University Of Southwestern Medical School to pursue a master’s degree in physical therapy. My plan was to use my degree to work with children with physical conditions requiring rehabilitation. Funny thing about plans……they can change when you least expect it.
A NEW PATH
While taking pre-requisite courses needed for applying to physical therapy school, I met, fell in love, and married my husband, Stefano. We moved to Frisco, Texas and began our life anew. About 8 months into our marriage, on Father’s Day, we found out that we were expecting our first child. While this was not part of the “plan,” we were overjoyed and I decided that I could tackle both motherhood and a master’s degree all at the same time.
I applied to the master’s program and was invited for an interview. At 8 ½ months pregnant, I wasn’t certain if my obvious baby bump would help or hinder my chances at actually being accepted into the physical therapy program. I left the interview feeling very confident, albeit with swollen feet and major hunger pains. I wasn’t sure which would come first: the letter of acceptance/denial or motherhood. At this point, all I could do was hurry up and wait.
THE BIG DAY…..OR NOT
Two weeks passed and all I did was get bigger, until I felt like I would actually burst upon my next inhalation. My doctor decided to go ahead and induce me, but after 12 hours of inconsistent labor, I was sent home and was told to return in the morning when they would try some more potent medication. My husband and I left the hospital, attempted to eat a meal (I was starving), only to find out that real labor was kicking in and all I could do was pound my fist on the table until our waiter brought us the check.
We returned home to continue the labor process. I instructed my husband to go on to bed as I decided I could cope better with the labor pains while breathing and watching late night infomercials. The medication I had been given throughout the day caused intense contractions that peaked for minutes at a time with 30 second intervals in between. It was the most excruciating pain and, after being awake for 24 hours, I was wearing down. Finally, my water broke and it was game on.
THE REAL BIG DAY
After shouting the news to my husband, he leapt out of bed, called the doctor for instructions, and helped me into the shower. Yes, silly me thought I had time to take a shower, wash and style my hair, and apply make-up. I didn’t want my son coming into this world seeing a worn-out, mascara streaked face. However, five minutes in the shower, I realized that I needed to get to the hospital and fast. No time for the salon, time for birth.
My poor husband saw a very ugly side of me on that ride to the hospital. I shouted expletives the entire way while pounding my fist into the roof of the car and berating him for unnecessarily stopping at every red light along the way at 5:00 in the morning. At the hospital, the nurses were running around the room, changing me, hooking me up to monitors, and poking me with needles. One nurse told me I was about to start pushing. I politely informed her that I would not be doing anything until I had an epidural.
By now, the events of the last 24 hours had just about sent me over the edge. I’ve never been happier to see a doctor with a large needle that was to be inserted in my intervertebral space. So much for my original birth plan which was supposed to be natural. Now, a couple of pushes later, my husband and I, almost too exhausted and overwhelmed by the entire experience to appreciate what has just happened to us, welcomed our first son.
THE JOURNEY BEGINS
And so it began, our journey into parenthood. As we departed from the hospital, tears began flowing uncontrollably. My husband was perplexed by this flood of emotions. He asked me what was wrong. When I was finally able to speak, I told him that I had a new plan. This plan involved a mom and her son and a devotion to raising a family.
When we arrived at home, a letter from the physical therapy program was waiting. I nervously opened the letter and was very proud to find out that I had been accepted. However, I knew in my heart that I could not bear the thought of leaving my son so I respectfully declined the offer and never looked back.
Now, 10 ½ years later, my husband and I are the very proud parents of 4 amazing children. We have our 10 ½ year old son, Nico, our 8 ½ year old daughter, Caterina, our 6 year old son, Alessio, and our 2 year old son, Massimo. Neither one of us ever imagined how fulfilling and rewarding parenthood would be. We love being with our children teaching them, playing with them, and guiding them. They give us back so much more than we could ever give to them. I could go on and on about the joys of parenthood!
HOW I GOT STARTED IN CHILD CARE
About a year ago, as most of my children were in school, I decided that I wanted to provide child care to a couple of children a few days a week in my home. It would serve a couple of purposes. The first, of course, was monetary. In addition, I wanted my fourth child to have other children around him to play with. Most importantly, I had this desire to work with other children that needed a happy, nurturing environment to spend their day while mommy and daddy were at work.
It has been such a rewarding experience to have other people’s children enter into my life and become a part of our family. I currently keep 2 children who are both 2 years old like my youngest son and the best playmates.
However, I have also provided child care on a short term basis to a child with autism. I cared for this child while he was undergoing testing to find out what types of therapy he would need to improve his level of functioning. His mother cried almost every time she dropped him off because she was so grateful to find a mother that was willing to deal with his issues so that she could take care of simple tasks such as running to the grocery store, doctor's appointments, and luncheons with her husband.
I would encourage anyone to consider providing child care to special needs children. Most parents of special needs children have a difficult time finding secure, nurturing homes for their children to spend a portion of their day. With guidance from the parents and therapists, it is simple to provide the right environment for such a child to thrive.
Please feel free to
contact me
at any time with any questions, comments, or suggestion. I will continue to work on providing the most current information about child care. I know it will take a little bit of time to build my site in between family responsibilities and child care duties, but please check back often as I do continue to add more information on a regular basis.
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