Our Diary
Eight and counting
By Paula on 01 Apr 2009
At the mo, we are in the throws of the dreaded Chicken Pox - uninvited at the best of times, but especially when it is your 8th Birthday! In the midst of Calpol and Calamine lotion, we did manage to have a Birthday of sorts for Michael, although the planned bowling party, complete with 15 guests, has had to be postponed. Aagh! A disappointment, but as with all milestones, it did give me an opportunity to reflect and appreciate how far we have all come in the last eight years. Little did I know on 28th March 2001, how much our lives were to change and how much my expectations and hopes of being a ‘normal’ parent were to be radically shaken up. The last eight years have been a roller coaster to say the least, with tears of joy at the tiny but major steps forward, mixed with copious amounts of tears about what is not to be. Will my child ever be able to live independently? Will my child ever get married? Will they ever have their own children to love and fret about? Who knows? People will care for my child, but who will care about him when we are no longer around? All of life’s milestones which millions take for granted are great big, looming uncertainties for us all.
Having said all of that however, I have in front of me, a slightly spotty young man who is a joy. He is funny and loving and the centre of all that I do and am. We were told that he might never talk, but now he does not shut up (don’t know where he gets that from!) albeit it in his own unique way. We were also told that he may never walk, and even though he is slightly wobbly, and tires easily, he can more or less keep up with the best of them. He is a county champion at special school swimming (width with a woggle!!), a demon on his tricycle and loves sport of any kind, again played in his own unique style! Music is his passion and his new drum kit (it is electric and has a volume control!) sits alongside his guitar and the family piano. He knows more about computers than I will ever know and his knot tying with his special stress rope is fantastic!
Problems have reared their head along the way, sometimes seemingly insurmountable, but at the centre of all of this is a slightly quirky, definitely noisy little boy whom we all love very much. We have good days and bad ones and I am not pretending for a minute that I don’t sometimes yearn for that sense of normality and boringness. This though is our normal, our everything, our family, and that is what is the most important thing in the world whichever shape or form it may take.
Having said all of that however, I have in front of me, a slightly spotty young man who is a joy. He is funny and loving and the centre of all that I do and am. We were told that he might never talk, but now he does not shut up (don’t know where he gets that from!) albeit it in his own unique way. We were also told that he may never walk, and even though he is slightly wobbly, and tires easily, he can more or less keep up with the best of them. He is a county champion at special school swimming (width with a woggle!!), a demon on his tricycle and loves sport of any kind, again played in his own unique style! Music is his passion and his new drum kit (it is electric and has a volume control!) sits alongside his guitar and the family piano. He knows more about computers than I will ever know and his knot tying with his special stress rope is fantastic!
Problems have reared their head along the way, sometimes seemingly insurmountable, but at the centre of all of this is a slightly quirky, definitely noisy little boy whom we all love very much. We have good days and bad ones and I am not pretending for a minute that I don’t sometimes yearn for that sense of normality and boringness. This though is our normal, our everything, our family, and that is what is the most important thing in the world whichever shape or form it may take.