Why GiGi’s: Kirsten & Ellie
My name is Kirsten Riddick. I am a mother of three beautiful children, wife to a man named David who is a superintendent, and I am an elementary school teacher. My journey of becoming Ellie’s mom is one that has led me to a place where I am able to change the world and make it a more generous, accepting, and kind place. Let me tell you a bit more about how I got here.
In 2010, I was told by my doctors that my daughter may have Down syndrome while I was pregnant, but the doctors were not 100% sure that this was the case. I was not too concerned, as I didn’t believe that she would truly have that diagnosis, and I just hoped she would be healthy. We did go see a specialist referred to by my doctor. When we had an ultrasound, it showed that she was perfectly healthy and there were no definitive markers of Down syndrome. My husband and I were thrilled that our second child was healthy and then our doctor decided to bring up termination due to the possibility of a Down syndrome diagnosis. How could he even say something like that when we are talking about a healthy child growing inside of me? We put our foot down with the doctor and chose not to return to their practice. We then focused on how lucky we were that she was healthy and not on all the what if’s that had been mentioned to us.
Soon after Ellie was born, we found out that she did in fact have Down syndrome. Our family had some concerns and questions about this diagnosis, but we chose to focus on her health and the new beautiful addition to our family.
With both myself and my husband working in education, we were familiar with the resources that would be available for our new child with special needs. We had seen the benefits of early intervention, knew about the schools in the area, and understood the value of starting therapy early. I was also lucky that my doctor gave me many resources and I felt well informed on how to support my daughter. We knew early on that we wanted Ellie to be included in all activities that her older brother Jackson did! Inclusion was a part of our everyday life, and we urged our little girl to always do her best.
Over the years since Ellie was born, I have developed a deep passion to support individuals with Down syndrome, and their families, for two reasons. First, I felt incredibly lucky that both myself and my husband were so familiar with the resources that could support Ellie after she was born. We worked in education and knew what she would need and began utilizing the resources in our community early on. Not every family has access to or knowledge about these resources, and I wanted to be a part of changing that for moms and dads in our area. Sometimes doctors fall short and they underestimate the beauty and value of children with Down syndrome. I want to be a voice of hope in their ear telling them about all the organizations, groups, and people in the area who can support them through their journey as a special needs parent.
Secondly, when the pandemic hit, I began to see some differences in the way that Ellie was acting. She became withdrawn and stopped talking for a while. When this happened, my entire world felt like it had stopped. I began to dream of her having a place where she could play alongside peers that were just like her and be the social child she wanted to be. When school opened back up, my urgency to find such a place grew, as I noticed the social differences were widening between Ellie and her friends.
I realized then that this dream could come true if we opened a GiGi’s Playhouse in Simi Valley where Ellie would be fully accepted for who she was. I knew that other moms and dads were dreaming the same dream for their child and that this could be a place where families came together to support one another in every way! That was the fuel that fired me up to become a Startup Team Leader for GiGi’s Playhouse Simi Valley and our dream is getting closer to reality every single day.
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