Note: this post includes affiliate links, a giveaway, and opinions galore!

There is so much I want to tell you about Kari and also about her son, Thorin. Thorin reminds me so much of a little Marcus, what with his endless imagination and knack for monster storytelling. Just last week, Kari shared on her blog, “A Story While Making Dinner” 

Kari and I are a lot alike, too. We are both writers, and mothers, and wishing for a more tolerant universe. I feel like the Wagner-Peck household feels a bit like ours, although each of the (so far) life stories look, from the outside, quite a bit different from ours.

Kari is part of my inspiration to re-boot the What Are The Odds series. She rolled the dice and got five questions and here, lucky you, are her answers. ALSO, lucky you, there’s a book giveaway involved, so stay to the end.

Tell us about:

YOU HAVE TO PLAY TO WIN

We are raising our son to believe that being true to yourself  is the greatest challenge and the ultimate win. This quote is attributed to Buddha and we as a family scribed to it:

“It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.”

(THE SOCIAL GAMBLE) SHARE A TOP POST, TOP TWEET, OR…

My top posts are challenging Chuck Klosterman – who at the time was the Ethicist for The New York Times on his use of the R-word and his response to my open letter.

A LUCKY DAY

Everyday.

YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE FIFTY YARD LINE

For me the Fifty Yard Line is about privilege. It is reserved for those with enough money to pay for that view—that experience. Some people can afford it and most of us can’t. It speaks to monetizing the human experience. Let’s just say I’m not a fan of that ideal.

A “Pair of Aces”

I think A Pair of Aces is a good way to describe  my husband, Ward, and me. Not in terms of ranking – but in being allied in a common world view that says ideas, actions, ethics and beliefs are more important than things, money, status.

I married my husband when I was 46 and became a parent at 49. My mid-life crisis was what most people do with the first half of their lives. Since then I became a writer, a homeschooling mother, a performance storyteller and an author. None of those things make much money but I have a partner who agrees a life with purpose or a mission is essential. Our son’s experience living with Down syndrome has positively shaped how we choose to live.

And Another Thing ->

A few other things you should know about Kari and her family. One is that she was the first interviewer of Marcus and one of the first book reviewers of Black Day: The Monster Rock Band.  So, that’s pretty cool, I feel. Check that out on the HuffPost Here: “Black Day: The Monster Rock Band” Author, Marcus Sikora, Is A Storyteller who Happens to Have Down Syndrome.”

Also, she wrote a book that is getting fabulous reviews by people who aren’t easy to please! It’s called Not Always Happy.

This is what Kari says about the book, blog, and finding her: 

I have written since 2010 on my blog: a typical son. My memoir Not Always Happy: An Unusual Parenting Journey was published in May of this year. The audience I hope to reach is vast. My intent was to create a social justice narrative in the form of a very readable and entertaining memoir. I am not fixated on the development of my child but rather the lack of development in society understanding neurodiversity.

I want my readers to have relatable moments whether they have children or not. Whether they know someone who is neurological different from themselves or not. This is a human story about living authentically in the world regardless of what others think.

You can also find Kari on Twitter and Instagram.

You can buy it on Amazon here:

Also – Try to win the book here! WOOOHOOO

a Rafflecopter giveaway