What is The Sidetracked Parent?

The Sidetracked Parent is a website and community born out of a need for one family to share what they had learned about being rare disease parents. They also wanted other parents to know they were not alone in their journey. While we may have been sidetracked from our original idea of parenthood, we can learn to navigate this world together.

Recent Blog Posts

Woman with curly auburn hair photographing golden autumn aspen trees in a grassy meadow.

I Didn't Give Up on My Dreams. I Was Too Busy Surviving.

by Christy Vacchio
Fifteen years ago, I was a stay-at-home mom with two young children, one of whom was still a toddler. I was living the life I thought I wanted, be...
Caregiver Identity Life Beyond Caregiving Personal Growth rare disease parenting Special Needs Parenting
The Invisible Job: Why Full-Time Work Is So Hard for Special Needs Parents

The Invisible Job: Why Full-Time Work Is So Hard for Special Needs Parents

by Christy Vacchio

Behind every special needs parent who “can’t keep a full-time job” is a second, invisible one.

Beyond the therapies and doctor appointments lies a full-time role as administrator—managing paperwork, appeals, medical forms, waivers, and deadlines that determine whether vital services continue or disappear. Even in families with support systems, this unseen labor quietly shapes careers, schedules, and financial stability.

This post offers a 48-hour window into that invisible work—and asks a bigger question: not why special needs parents struggle to stay employed, but why the system requires them to hold two full-time jobs just to survive.

caregiver burnout caregiving paperwork disability advocacy invisible labor of caregiving parent support community parents of children with disabilities rare disease parenting special needs and employment Special Needs Parenting working parents with special needs children
7 Ways to Advocate and Support Friends and Family with a Rare Disease

7 Ways to Advocate and Support Friends and Family with a Rare Disease

by Christy Vacchio
I had a question from one of my friends today so I thought I would address it in a blog post. This person asked me, "What is the best way for me to...
Advocacy Caregivers Rare Disease Special Needs Parenting
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Two children with rare neonatal diabetes brother and sister diagnosed with diabetes in infancy living with rare type of diabetes 2 babies with diabetes

A Rare Pair

While neonatal diabetes is rare and occurs in about 1 in every 400,000 live births in the United States, it is usually a "de novo" mutation, meaning it happens randomly. Our family somehow lucked out with 2. We may be rare, but we want to help as many other families as we can navigate the road in any way we can. 

Read More on Our Blog: Adventures in Kandyland

Original Drawing of the Monogenic Ribbon

Christy's mother was an artist and one day when she was visiting, they started coming up with an idea for a monogenic diabetes ribbon after being inspired by a breast cancer ribbon using a DNA strand

Mutated Gene in a DNA Strand

The inspiration for the red line came from several pictures on the internet depicting a red line in the DNA helix strand to represent a single genetic mutation.

Diabetes Awareness Ribbon

The blue and grey colors and the red drop of blood come from the diabetes awareness ribbon. Since it is still a form of diabetes, we wanted to show that connection. After all, we do still have to test blood sugars, even if some of us don't have to check quite as often.

Monogenic Neonatal Diabetes Awareness Ribbon

The final product was just putting it into a digital image so we could use it to create some of the products you see here in the store. We may not always use the ribbon on all of our products, but it is what got everything started so it is the beginning of our story. Now we have the ability to customize the ribbon for you/your child's rare disease. Just contact us if you want a customized ribbon.