When you have a child with special needs you pay attention to activities differently. You even think of toys differently. It isn't just about what they play but how they play and what they are learning from it. I guess since Owen was our first, it is ingrained in the way we think.
So it is strange for us to enroll the kids in things that are meant purely for recreation. Like dance, T-ball, swimming and gymnastics. Most parents sign up their kids because their child has an interest in the activity. We pick things that help them grow. To help them learn.
It feels a little backwards sometimes and maybe we aren't giving Owen enough "fun" things. But today I was proven wrong. Even though I may not be looking at it as fun, he always makes everything he does fun.
He had training day 2 of gymnastics today. His first day he was hesitant. He was distracted and had to be reminded over and over what activity they were focusing on. One week later and it was a whole new experience. He saw his coach arrive and started jumping up and down. Looked at me and waved goodbye and away he went. He followed her EVERY direction. He payed close attention to each activity.
I sat behind the half wall watching him work. And I caught myself a few times with tears in my eyes. I was so proud of how he was doing. He was jumping like the coach. He was tumbling like the coach was asking him to. He was going from station to station without a fight.
There are so many times that I watch him struggle with things because they are hard for him, because he is tired, because he just doesn't understand. But today it was easy. Today it was like he had been there for years and had been practicing.
You never know when a tuesday gymnastics session can remind you how lucky we are to have Owen. A reminder of what is important. A reminder that there will be things in his life that will be easy, we just have to be patient and find what that will be.
Very well said, now Im all teary :)
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