Last night, I couldn’t sleep.

Monday, we have an IEP team meeting. We have to plan for some recent developments in Sienna’s academic future. I need to ask the school for more, more resources, more flexibility, more teacher and team education on her diagnoses.

I was on a call with seasoned advocates a couple weeks ago, asking for advice on how to position these requests. Before the meeting started, the seasoned advocate presented us with updates regarding how to file complaints and hold school districts accountable when the Office of Civil Rights has been erased.

7 of 12 offices have closed, including the entire Philadelphia office which handled our complaints. Cases stopped being worked. Children are left in the cold. So, what now?

“Don’t hold back from filing a complaint, but if it involves race and disability, you are better off only bringing up disability. Disability is being prioritized over discrimination based on race claims.”

I could not believe I was hearing this on a recorded call. The nausea filled me. My hands started to shake. I thought about these calls a year ago and how this tone was something I never thought I would witness in this country in my lifetime. Yet, here I am raising a child with a disability in this dystopian world.

For the past few weeks, I’ve had this aching sense of dread and foreboding.

How will I know if the government has gone too far?
How will I know when it’s time to leave — to protect Sienna?

The sheer volume of lies and destruction that have become a daily part of the American diet makes it impossible to know when something is actually a crisis.

A third of Americans have checked out of politics for most of their lives — and the toxicity around it these last few years has only made that worse.

So, this is me trying.
Trying to educate the people in all our circles who are checked out.
Because I get it.
I get the instinct to protect your peace, to put one foot in front of the other, to keep family life normal, and to not let the fear consume you.

The truth is, most of us have never had to deal with anything like this in our lives as American citizens.
No President has ever actively tried to destroy our own government.
And most of the people who voted for him — aside from his deep loyalists — didn’t vote for this.

When I first heard about Project 2025, I couldn’t bring myself to read it.
Admittedly, I haven’t read all of it — it’s 990 pages for starters.
And honestly? I had to stop sometimes — for my own peace.

I stopped for the same reasons I couldn’t keep watching The Handmaid’s Tale.
It hit too close to home.
It felt too real, too terrifying.
The same reason I only watched Don’t Look Up once.

But now?
Now — I feel I have no choice but to prepare myself, to protect my family, and to understand the possibilities of what’s to come.
So with that in mind, I’m sharing what I’ve uncovered — and I’m hoping this reaches that third of people who didn’t vote for this.

Because the truth is:
So far, everything Project 2025 warned about has already become the lived reality of Americans these last 100 days.

So how scary is it?
Well, to start, the opening of the document talks about taking action immediately — exactly what is happening right now.

It also says the President must take complete control of the executive branch — and of other branches if necessary.

It’s a literal blueprint for authoritarianism.
And as I read it, I realized just how perfect this is for Trump.
The entire thing talks about giving him ultimate power.

The people around him are implementing Project 2025, kissing his ass, and because of his narcissism, he’s letting them do it — and probably doesn’t even fully understand it.
(Which is probably why we’re seeing so many unapproved documents and miscommunications leak out — like the Harvard thing.)

The comprehensive policy agenda is titled Mandate f0r Leadership: The C0nservative Pr0mise.
I’ll link it in the comments.

Let’s Start With Government Restructuring:

They advocate for greater presidential control over all federal agencies — including traditionally independent ones like the DOJ and FBI.
(Did anyone happen to see a judge get arrested yesterday? Yeah. That’s weird.)

They want to reclassify civil service positions and replace them with political appointees.
(Translation: Loyalists.)

Already, they’ve fired 1 in 4 government employees — 20,000 jobs.

They recommend dismantling major agencies — including the Department of Education and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration — to “reduce bureaucratic overreach.”

Here’s My Issue:

Look, I know a lot of people think government employees are lazy and that processes are slow.
I disagree, but I get that it’s the perception.
And I understand why “blow it all up” feels tempting.

But here’s the thing:
I’m begging people — look at countries that do education right.
Countries like Finland have more government “overreach” — not less.
They fund schools better.
They support all learners.
Nearly 24% of students benefit from targeted interventions — and they provide it.

That’s what a functioning education system looks like.
Not this.

Traditional Family Values — at Whose Expense?

A huge chunk of Project 2O25 talks about “restoring traditional family values” and giving Christians more political power.

That’s why they want vouchers.
They want kids indoctrinated in their culture and their religious values.

Unfortunately, their plan leaves students with disabilities, students living in poverty, and families who aren’t Christian out in the cold.

Like it or not, this country was founded on religious freedom.
Not religious rule.

They also want to eliminate Head Start — claiming it “lacks long-term educational benefits” — despite the fact that it supports low-income and disabled children at critical early stages.

I know so many families in the disability community whose kids are blatantly discriminated against in private daycare facilities.

The Hard Truth:

I understand the appeal of “less government.”
Really, I do.

But let me be blunt:

In the world I live in, I need the government.
Privatization equals prejudice.

I hear about it every single day.

Next, Let’s Talk About Health and Human Services.

Or, should I say — the soon-to-be renamed “Department of Life.”

They plan to restrict access to abortion and contraception.                                                           

They plan to promote traditional (Christian nationalist) family models.                                                   

They plan to weaponize healthcare.

And don’t even get me started on Medicaid.
That’s going to have to be a whole series of posts.

But if you want to take one action step right now?
Download the Mandate for Leadership and do a word search for “Medicaid.”
You’ll see the hints.
You’ll see the plan.

My personal favorite?
States would only receive funding if they enact and share abortion registry information.

I Just Cannot Believe This Is Happening.

Every day I wake up wondering how I’m supposed to raise Sienna and Haley in a country that’s sprinting backward.

Because so far, the blueprint is being followed step by step.
And the last page — the endgame — isn’t just a theory.

We’ve seen it before.
We know exactly how it ends.

It ends with rights stripped.
It ends with families shattered.
It ends with communities silenced.
It ends with the people who needed protection the most — abandoned.

This is the warning.
This is the alarm.
And we will not be able to say we didn’t know.

If you love your kids —
If you believe in freedom —
If you think every person deserves dignity and choice and voice —

Now is the time to fight like hell.

Not later.
Not “when it gets worse.”
Now.

Because by the time the ending arrives —
it will be too late to rewrite the story.