Zonki-Boo Studio…Where imagination becomes reality

Hi there, My name is Cherie, owner and life coach at Zonki-Boo Studio’s Equanimity. Being a single parent, a mother of a disabled child and a neurotypical child, life has thrown me some curved balls in the past and I must say, some days, it still is. I have worked with children in kindergartens and primary schools – neurodivergent children and neurotypical children for years and now, with all the experience I have gained over years, decided that I want to share my experiences with other families.

My aim is to make life easier for children and their parents. Sometimes, we as parents, feel like the world is going to swallow us whole and we find ourselves in a square room with no corners.

I am not here to tell you ” everything will be fine” but I am here to tell you ” everything can be fine, if you are willing to work with me”.

My eldest child is 15yrs old, born with Right sided hemiplegia cerebral palsy and autism. She had a stoke in utero at 27 weeks and was born premature. Doctors told me she won’t be able to feed herself, sit up by herself etc, but boy… were they wrong. She is basically independent – she is walking around and all is great with her, but we do struggle with the autistic side of things. Her physical disability is nothing compared to her mental disability. Over the years, I have been studying and learning from my child every single day. The progress that we both made so far is incredible. There were heaps of obstacles to overcome, but this is all a learning curve. We learn every day something new.

Then I have my 12 yr old daughter, who is neurotypical with high anxiety issues. Brilliantly clever and beautiful. She is amazing in everything she does, helping her sister if need be and she will never say no to her sister. She understands disability very well and has a passion to help children with problems.

Now, I like to tell you all about the mistakes I made as a parent of YING and YANG – 2 children, completely different from each other physically and mentally.

When my eldest daughter were born, my life changed completely – worry, anxiety, hopelessness, the unknown of what the future will hold, kicked in and I found myself in a square room with no corners. Luckily, I got myself figured out and worked on my mental health, while being a first time mum to a disabled child. I gave her everything she needed to become a strong individual human-being and today, that is exactly what she is.

I was focused 100% on giving my child the best possible outcome to an ordinary normal life. She went to kindy after she started walking at 3yrs old. I got all therapists involved that needed to be there and all the funding she needed when she goes to school. Everything was perfect.

3 yrs later, I fell pregnant with my 2nd baby, and doctors told me there is always a chance of my 2nd baby having a disability. I braised myself for this and at 39 weeks, she was born, a completely neurotypical child. As the 2 of them grew up together , the bond between them grew stronger by the day.

Everything was perfect, I had my 2 babies and I was in good mental health, looking after them… until my little one went to yr 7. I didn’t notice that she was unhappy, I didn’t notice that her world was falling apart, until it was almost too late. I was working and paying much more attention to my eldest because she needed me to help with certain activities. One day, I knocked on my youngest bedroom door, and entered – she was in tears, so unhappy that my heart felt like a pile of poo. This was ALL MY FAULT!!! but I did not realise what was happening. With her words to me: ” mum, why are you always focussed on my sister? I realised what I was doing wrong. It took me a few seconds to gather my thoughts and said to her ” My love, I am sorry if you feel like I am not paying enough attention to you, this is all my fault, and I promise I will change that”

It took some weeks for me to figure out how to balance my relationships between my 2 girls. I did it, I found the solution for both my girls and this with only a couple of things that I have changed. And this is what I want to share with other families. Simple tools to help you gain back the trust and understanding of your children.

I do hope you all find my work an inspiration and book a session with me just to chat at no cost.

Let’s get families back on track where they can be one and whole again.

Best regards

Cherie