Monday, May 4, 2009

Celebration Not Contemplation


Sometimes you just can't make us parents of children with significant disabilities happy.

When our child who has had 2-3 seizures a day for the last 5 years suddenly goes a week without a seizure, we wonder what's wrong. We worry about some new twist in our child's complex medical situation rather than celebrating a week without a seizure.

When our child who hasn't slept through the night ever (and they are 14 years old) suddenly starts sleeping 6 hours straight, we still get up every hour to make sure they are still breathing.

When our child who has never let anything but water, room temperature water, pass through their lips decides one day to pick up our glass of iced tea and chug it, we look on in disbelief and then start looking for whatever caused the universe to shift.

We, or actually I should say I, need to learn to relax more. I need to accept that there are just as many good things as bad things going on in my child's complex little body. Sometimes I won't be able to find explanations for changes. I just need to accept change as a part of my child's normal growth and maturation process.

I need to celebrate all the good moments even if I can't explain them, because if I can't do that, how can I ever expect my child to do likewise?

2 comments:

Michelle Morgan-Coole said...

Never a dull moment, huh? ;-)
Sounds like things are looking up!

Lynn EnsMom said...

Good for you! I find I struggle with the "good" as well as the "bad" because I never know whether the "good" is actually a symptom of something "bad" coming along.
You are right, we have to find a way to role with the changes and hope for the best. We have to help ourselves, help our kids, to keep on going in this life. To celebrate wherever and whenever we can!