Some weeks are harder than others when raising children. Last week was a tough week. The school emailed me stating, my son started crying randomly during lunch. The following day he came home and said someone on the playground called him “weird.” Thankfully, my son didn’t physically react and chose to ignore the child. My heart broke inside when he told me that this was the very worst part of his day.
I spent both days praying for guidance and crying by myself. I wished I had the answers and solutions. There is no rule book for raising children, but there really is no rule book for raising a differently wired child. These little guys are often easy targets.
Fast forward two days. As I went into my little guy’s room to wake him up for school, I kissed him on the forehead and said: “today is going to be a great day buddy!” I actually say this same phrase to him every morning because I feel like we need to start the day being positive. He slowly stretched his body, rubbed his eyes, and then he asked, “Mommy, I never want you to pray to Jesus for a better boy than me.” Of course, I immediately said, “Are you crazy? I would never! You are the best boy I could have ever gotten. God made you perfect and you need to remember to always be you.” He smiled bigger than big and hugged me. We continued with our morning and he went off to school.
While he was not ruminating on our discussion that morning, I certainly was. Our days are often filled with negative behavior, negative comments, and many comparisons. Coincidently, this leads to added struggles. As parents of children who are outside the box, we are often judged along with them daily.
I am here to tell you, this mom stuff is not easy but it was in that little moment, where I saw his smile and felt his hug, that I knew I had done something right! These little humans are our greatest gifts. It is our job to help navigate these rough waters alongside them as they mature. To give them the tools that will keep them afloat when we are no longer by their side.