Incredible

Today daddy and I were so impressed by our little guy..........I asked my little people if they'd met another set of twins at their school......J & K. Our little guy quickly answered and said yes, he'd met J. He continued by saying............"He's nice. J doesn't walk so good, he has crutches and his legs don't work so good. But he's just like me......I have a small hand and he has crutches. That makes us different........but we're the same, just like in the book momma, remember the book?" Yes baby, I remember the book.
This kid.......this kid is incredible. He knows that he and J both have a difference, that makes them different from everyone else, but their difference is also something that they have in common so it makes them the same. He also understands that although he and J have a difference........everyone is still the same! It bewilders me that this kid at 5 years old understands so much. Read him a book and he gets it.........explain it to him and he gets it........God put it in him already......so he gets it. Incredible!

I have to share this one..........We have a children's book titled........."WHY ME?" it was written by Julie Parker, we received this from our Occupational Therapist. It's a book that explains that everyone is different and it's ok to be different because we're all still the same. It reinforces that it's ok to ask questions and encourages children to accept who they are as well as others. My husband and I decided a while back that when the kids start school at the beginning of the year we should always advise the teacher, that we'd like the book to be read or one of us could read it ourselves to the class. Because the Kindergarten teacher is so great we decided to let her read it to the class. I read the book the night before to my M&M's and they enjoyed it as usual. I slipped the book into my little guy's folder and told the teacher to read it the class whenever she felt it was appropriate. She read it the same day and it turns out all the kids enjoyed it as well. She said they all began to name different things that were different about them. The M&M's were excited that it was their book and the class thanked them for bring it.
The most remarkable part of this story is this.........According to the teacher, after the story was over, my little guy decided on his very own to stand before the class and tell them about his hand. I can only imagine what he said...........this is one of those proud mommy moments that make me cry tears of joy when I try to picture it. I picture him standing before the class, saying he was born this way......that when he was in his mommy's tummy, his hand stopped growing..........that he can still do a lot of things, he just does it differently..........that he can still play basketball and football.......and that he's still way cool!  These are all things that we've said to him.........that we've heard him repeat to others. Wow I love these proud mommy moments!

“I’m a BIG kid now”.  

This is a statement I keep hearing from my M&M’s.

The First Day of Kindergarten……….was a Rough Day, but not so much for the twins…..They LOVED it!

Last week was the twins first day of school. They are officially Kindergartner’s now. I’ll post a picture so you can see how adorable my babies were on the first day of school. J Every thing about this is new. New school, New teacher, New Neighborhood, New Friends, New EVERYTHING! So, I was really really REALLY nervous........for multiple reasons.They were so excited and couldn’t wait to go.

Of course my buddy had a few kids ask about his hand. His teacher later informed me that he was great about answering questions. She said the questions didn’t seem to bother him and he simply explained……”I was born this way”……and basically that was enough. Apparently there was a little girl who was just simply having a hard time overall…….a rough day…….as the teacher put it. I can only imagine what this little one’s day was like…….new school, big kids around, mommy and daddy not there with her, so yeah……I understand she may have been having a rough day. Well anyway, the precious little girl, cried all day off and on from what I understand, and at the very end of the day…..that’s when it happened…….they were in PE class and something set her off. She cried, snatched away from the teachers and screamed. The story from two five year old’s points of view can be a little confusing. But, The main teacher, the PE teacher and the counselor had to try to help her. My little boy quietly walked up to his teacher after the fact and asked if his classmate was upset because of his hand……….the teacher reassured him that she was just having a rough day and was probably tired. He accepted this answer and so did I, but I wonder if in the back of his mind he has the same thoughts as me……did this make her rough day, even rougher.  Too many NEW things at one time can make us all a little uncomfortable. Poor little girl………I can’t help but be sympathetic because I’m a mom and I’ve seen her, she’s a tiny little innocent child……..but at the same time………my little guy tugs at my heart strings……….he wanted to know if he was the cause of her having rough day. I reassured him, then reassured him again, and reassured him some more when we were at home. He got tired of talking about it.

With this incident aside……….everything went well and my babies love their new school, their new teacher and their new friends. They’re “BIG” kids now. You gotta love it!

Someone told my hubby about this great place for kids to play. So we set aside a day and drove up to it. It’s an inclusive playground, by UNLIMITED PLAY.  The name UNLIMITED PLAY says a mouthful. I love this place and so does BOTH of my little ones. Daddy and I laughed as our little people ran and showed us “what they can do”. They ran free and climbed the ropes and even rock climbed. Yes, they BOTH rock climbed. How awesome is that?! When you go to the Unlimited play website, the first thing you see at the top of the page…….is their vision…….I love their vision:

 Because all children should play together.

Our vision is to build playgrounds where all challenges and limitations created by disabilities are forgotten. To build places where all children can play and interact side by side, developing understanding and respect for their similarities and differences.

Did I mention that I love this place…………. Unlimitedplay.org

Ok, I haven't posted in forever.......since February I believe. But once again, it certainly isn't because there wasn't anything to post about.  Today of all days..........is definitely one when I had one of those........"I must blog" moments. Today, my little guy had to go for a follow up visit to the doctor, not to his occupational therapist or the doctor for his hand, but to his allergy/asthma specialist. Just me and my buddy......(the one on one conversations with this kid are truly amazing.) We had to make a stop at his primary care pediatricians office to get immunization records for kindergarten enrollment. While sitting in the office, waiting on the documentation......he says, "momma, why do I have one big and and one small hand?" Caught completely off guard, I responded with....."What was that buddy?" So, he softly asks the question again. I'm thinking....Lord, how do I explain this to my baby.....God made you special, suddenly isn't enough explanation I guess. My answer was...."well buddy, when you were in mommy's tummy, your hand stop growing." He says, "will it get big like my other hand?" It hurt for me to tell him because I didn't know how he would react, but I said, "No, it won't buddy....it will stay smaller than your other hand." He then goes further to say....."What's that thing that you can put on here to make it look like a hand?" And he motioned as if he was connecting something to his hand. I said, "Do you mean a prosthetic hand?" He says, "Yes." I then asked if he wants to get a prosthetic hand........he said, "No"........I replied, "Ok, buddy." Then I asked if he likes his small hand......He very matter-of-factly said "Yes, I can dribble a basketball with it." ....."You sure can, and that is soooooo cool!"  Now as heart wrenching as this conversation was and just when I thought to myself how much I absolutely LOVE this child and THANK YOU GOD for blessing me with this kid AND for helping me through this little chat.........it wasn't over yet. He went on to say......"momma, why am I the only one in our family that is sick?"  Wow..........at this point he's talking about his asthma and allergy trouble. He never once asked why he was the only one with one small hand..........but he did want to know why he was the only one in our family that has asthma and allergy trouble. I was able to tell him that mommy also has allergies and so does daddy.That was enough for now. I'm really grateful for how this conversation flowed smoothly and how my son didn't get disheartened. I'm praying for the words to explain why he is the only one in our family with one small hand.........I hope God guides me through it, just like HE did today. We later went to work out at the YMCA and why shooting basketball in the gym, I noticed a kid asking my little guy about his hand........I heard him say, "I was born this way." and the kid........who was slightly older said. "Oh." And somehow..........that was enough. My buddy looked at me with the biggest smile on his face and I gave him a thumbs up and the biggest smile I could muster........I'm so incredibly proud of him.