Ode to a "Normal" Day

 

Back in the days when I was free

To roam the earth as I jolly well pleased,

I'd pick up the phone and I'd call back home

To hear the voice of my favorite Mom.

"Hi, Mom!" I'd nonchalantly say.

"Anything exciting happen today?"

"No, thank God!" was her heartfelt reply.

I truly, genuinely, could not understand why!

"How absurdly boring!" I said to me.

I struggled to grasp the reality

That "boring" is "normal" and "normal life" could

Actually, somehow, be honestly good!

"Adulthood is boring!" was my youthful conclusion. 

I subconsciously vowed Adventure Inclusion

Would be part of my life- it was here to stay!

There's no reason to EVER have A Boring Day!

I sought New Hard Things, sometimes treacherously,

And loved living life very adventurously.

"Try something new every day!" was my motto;

Drive a new route, fly a plane, eat gelato...

I don't know what happened to that Adventure-Seeking-Me.

Perhaps the Adventure started seeking me!

"Never a dull moment!"- words I once cherished- 

That's my life now; Boredom has perished!

(In my particular life, right now,

Life has completely filled up, somehow, 

With a little girl and several boys,

There's ALWAYS adventure- and So Much Noise!)

As the hours turn to days and the days turn to years,

My perspective keeps changing, and so do my fears.

The days when the phone doesn't ring are the best.

No Extra Stuff-- I just want to rest!

As I crave the Unexciting Day,

I shake my head and hear myself say,

"My conclusion really can't be any other-

Like it or not- I'm becoming my mother!"

Do that Hard Thing... maybe you'll LIKE it!

"I think I actually LIKE writing!"

That was his random close-of-the-day comment to me last night.

I thought I'd NEVER hear those words out of his mouth. 

He decided about 4 years ago that writing is Very Hard Work, and therefore, a task to be despised and avoided, at all cost.

It WAS very hard work. I didn't realize HOW hard it was for him until his brothers started writing. Writing is hard work for every kid, but for some, it's very, very hard. He was one of those.

The thing is, we corrected the things that made it physically hard. 

When we started Occupational Therapy, his fine motor skills were very rigid. His balance and coordination were 2-3 years behind what's expected. He couldn't cross midline.

All those things made handwriting extra, extra hard.

We worked through those physical challenges, and while some days we still see traces of them, it's easy to forget that they were So Hard.

The hard part now is retraining his brain to stop believing these things are so hard that it is not even worth trying. 

It has been one of the most challenging things of being his teacher, in addition to being his mom. We have fought many long, hard battles over simply writing a few lines. 

It is not that he isn't able; it is that he remembers how hard it WAS, and believes that's how hard it IS.

As a Mom Detective, one picks up on these things, because writing things like "Happy Birthday!" comes out quickly and cheerfully and relatively neatly.

Anyway, in an attempt to troubleshoot, I got a new handwriting curriculum, and started all 3 boys at the same place. I convinced them that handwriting is going to be the most fun class of the day. We drew lines in corn and dotted our Is and crossed our Ts.

And by the end of the day, he thinks maybe he likes writing, after all.

Sometimes, we all just need to shift our thinking a little....stop believing the lies that say we will always be trapped inside who we WERE, and step forward, doing that Hard Thing.

Maybe we'll like it, after all!!