the younger boys and i travelled yesterday by plane to texas to see tim's family while tim and ethan drove. isn't it funny how there are moments that you are reminded that your child has Down syndrome more than other moments? the lady at the information desk at the airport commented on how cute he is....then went on to tell me that her mom works at MKL (our local school for kiddos w/special needs). why does it surprise me when someone recognizes that he has Ds? he looks so much like our older boys that sometimes it just catches me off guard! and once i'm reminded, then i wonder what other strangers are thinking when they see wyatt, if they're feeling sorry for me....
i don't dwell on these thoughts often, but right now it's just a little more obvious to me developmentally that wyatt is behind other kids his age, especially in the area of walking.....i know all the statistics for kids with Ds and their varying ages of walking, but that doesn't make it hurt less to see kids younger than him running all over the place. to hear them talking a lot more....the list goes on. in our extended family i have a cousin with a child 1 month younger than wyatt, and when we were together on Christmas eve it made me a little sad. funny thing is, i asked tim if it makes him sad, and he said "no...." end of story..... wish i was more like that!
my friend carol and i were talking about those comparisons of our kids w/Ds....her son is almost 1 year older than wyatt, and he's kind of paving the way for wyatt at our local preschool. as we were talking, she said it's like there's a "film" over his brain (i think that's the way she put it).... he's just a little slower in things.... and i feel that way as well....like wyatt's just not as quick to pick things up as other kids....which i know is the case, but it's still hard! and it makes me sad.....and i know that i will see that more and more the older he gets....and i just wonder if/when it will get easier to accept.....that life for wyatt will be a little slower....not as fast paced, maybe.....
I know how you're feeling Penny - in my strange and wonderful new land people are so friendly, yet on the beach we end up making friends and hanging out with the families with typical kids who turn out to be around eighteen months old, rather than nearly three. It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. But sometimes, just for a moment, it kinda does.
ReplyDeleteAs you said in your blog maybe God gave you the circumstances to slow you down and appreciate all the blessing you have. Just think of all the things little Wyatt will get to experience in a "slower" world. Nothing will pass him by! And he will be the friendlies, most caring person that never misses out on all the precious pieces of God's world. It would do us all good to progress more slowly! Manny Blessings!
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