Battles Won

Thanks to Mr.B for providing our last blog entry.  By the way, I married him for his brains.  Truly that is one of the many things I love about him.  Though sometimes I get so frustrated and I beg him just to watch something and be entertained…don’t analyze it.  I understand now though that it is just how his brain works.  He is a thinker, and he makes me think more, and that’s a good thing.

Anyway, a little update on us…we ran into some serious childcare problems at the end of the summer, but like crises often do, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  LJB is enrolled in an inclusive daycare not too far from our new house.  The first week of drop offs at day care left us both crying for most of the morning, but now he seems to enjoy it.  He walks in, takes his breakfast bar to the little kiddo-sized table and waves “bye-bye” when Mr. B drops him off.  Yep, I make Dad do the dirty work.  It proved too traumatic (for both LJB and me) for me to do the drop off. 

Saturday marked the beginning of my favorite time of year.  To celebrate, the first day of fall, Mr. B and I spent about thirty minutes of nap-time collecting acorns from our front yard.  I had already gathered some fallen limbs.  The acorns and limbs have now been turned into our new fall centerpieces. 

I also turned off the air this weekend, opened the windows, and let the cooler fall breeze run through the house.  It was great!  Then I made pumpkin bread and caramel popcorn.  Fall has fallen…you know, like spring has sprung.  Whatever, I tried.  Mr. B is the comedian of this duo, too.

We went to pick up our CSA farm share this weekend and I ran across a booth of gourds and pumpkins.  I picked out 10 small gourds and piled them into LJBs stroller while he waited (far more patiently than usual, I might add).  He was so excited.  He loved to feel the texture of the smooth ones, the bumpy ones, the long stems.  Then he started to really enjoy them.  He picked up each gourd and rubbed it on his face, took a big sniff and then declared, “yum!” or “yuck!”  I’m not sure what the qualifiers for smelling yummy or yucky were, they all smelled the same to me.  Then he shared imaginary bites of each gourd with Mr. B and myself.  I was amazed.  This is a sign of more progress.  Not only was he pretending , something autistic kids don’t readily do, but he was initiating play with us.  Don’t get me wrong, we still have such a long way to go and the autism battle hasn’t been won, but there are small battles being won daily.

I really thought about something this weekend.  We all have battles to fight.  From the moment you become a parent, those battles change.  I have a pity party every so often about how unfair it is that I have a child with special needs, how unfair it is that LJB requires so much work, but then, something comes along to put it all back into perspective.  Those parents with the easy kids, the ones who never act up, they have battles too, I promise.  They may not even know what battles are coming their way, but we are all fighting on one united front to raise our children to become good people, to give back more than they take, and to live up to their greatest potential.  This is the battle all parents have in common.

It has been nearly one year since my very first childhood friend lost a battle.  My dear friend had struggled with the demons of addiction since we were in high school.  One of the sermons delivered at his funeral last November talked about all the battles he had won along the way.  It’s so easy to focus on the battles left to fight and the battles that we have lost, but we should narrow our focus to the battles won.  This weekend, there is going to be an Out of the Darkness Suicide Prevention walk held in Bowling Green, KY.  There will be a team walking in honor of my dear friend Ryan’s memory and all the battles he won.  If you’d like to donate, follow this {link} and donate to my friend Teah’s team in memory of Ryan.  Your donation will help to make a difference in the battle for many!

There will be pictures to coordinate with this week’s post at a later date.  Since moving, I’ve been unable to unearth my computer cable for my camera…