Exhaustion doesn’t cover it today. I think last night was one of the hardest nights Owen has had in a very long time. He woke up right as I was falling asleep and from there it was one moment in time after another. He came to me wanting his tablet, screaming that it was time to go -to all the places he wanted to go, and that he wanted chocolate milk. Each and every break is hard. And then knowing he is going back to school soon to see his beloved teacher and has activities he wants to do is one more incredibly hard thing for him to work through because he wants his routine back. There was lots of noise last night, then I heard him sneeze, and that’s all it took until he was awake. His sinuses have been up and down for the last week and I was hoping they would be completely moved out of his system by now. I went through the whole it’s nighttime and you need to go back to sleep thing but that didn’t work because he was ready to watch “Boo-Boo Chicken has feathers on” and see what else the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse gang was doing. Plus, he was ready to go to the “swimming pool with swimming suit on.” By midnight I tried all of the things and all of the things only made him more determined that I needed to get us ready to go to the pool because it was summer and “when it is open we need to go.” His phrases are both a delight and provide a chuckle but not so much when midnight turns into one and he’s still screaming and then one turns into two and he’s still screaming. And so forth and so on until I tried putting him in bed with me only to have him crawl back over me to get out and start the whole process again. Morning finally got here. I had convinced him to go to his bed with his tablet after I had told myself a thousand times I wasn’t going to give him his tablet and I think I was in and out for a few hours until he was once again ready to go. We went and he had a blast. The instructor was so incredible with Owen. She had goggles and life jackets if he wanted them. He selected to put an orange pair on during part of his lesson. Then she had lots of toys and she used them to help him stretch out and use his muscles. She was right on the mark with all of it and followed his lead while he got comfortable with his surroundings. She gave him lots of encouragement and focused on his strengths. We have been waiting for years to find someone to teach him. I used to teach swimming but teaching your child is different. Plus I wanted him to learn safety and as soon as she greeted us she started talking to him about how to walk in the area as we went to get ready. She said the words “walking feet” and she also emphasized it by making a gesture with her hands. This connected with him. When they were done he didn’t want to leave but she handled it beautifully with him and helped him get out of the pool, talking and encouraging him the whole time. I think that is always part of why it’s so hard to take him places because the leaving is as hard as the going and getting there. I was thankful for how she handled it all. When we were driving home he said, “good job walking feet good job.” When you have waited so long for swimming lessons for your child this was our reward and I’m thankful. He was pretty quiet the rest of the day, requesting grandma a lot but settled for his tablet and a bath. I went to start his bedtime process and he was out cold on the couch. His midnight run was over. I got him to go to the bathroom and he got in bed. He was asleep again before I came out of the bathroom. I’m praying he sleeps tonight. The smile he had on his face today spoke volumes of how much joy he felt. Let your heart be full of gladness and know that joy will change your life. Smiles to all and donut daze!
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