"When can we be silly again?" Elias asked me tonight after we jumped, rolled, and wrestled on the bed. We giggled and tickled and snuggled, Elias, Nick, and I, as Olive stood at the edge smiling. Tonsina even jumped up to join us, wagging his tail with a playful growl.
"We're having a family party on the beeedddd!!!!!!" Elias said, in his big voice he uses when excited.
Earlier when I picked him up from school (after staying home with his sick baby sister), he wanted me to wait till he was finished with Camp Fire. So I walked back home without him. And sure he fought and cried this morning for over half an hour in the hallway but didn't shed another tear the rest of the day. He participated. He smiled.
"We can be silly again tomorrow," I said. "Now its time to settle down for bed.
And he did.
No refusals.
No tantrums.
No demon-child to make me question this whole parenting thing.
Just a boy with angel eyes, falling asleep under a mountain of covers, breathing in and out, in and out...
And one relieved Mama.
Happy Friday All--with a special welcome to new readers!
It's funny how the kiddos always know how to redeem themselves at just the right moment. That's how they keep us coming back over and over...
Love to Elias!
Posted by: Shelley | 08/28/2010 at 07:33 AM
I picked only your blog out of the magazine article and read the whole thing in two days. Thank you for writing.
Posted by: Kathrine | 08/28/2010 at 04:45 PM
That was lovely to read and he is adorable!
Posted by: Barbara | 08/28/2010 at 07:35 PM
Oh, Mama. Isn't having kids the best thing in the world? Doesn't one little smile just wash away 5 bajillion bratty moments? *sigh*
Posted by: Courtney | 08/28/2010 at 10:03 PM
Oh, don't we need those moments?? Be affirmed!
Posted by: Danielle | 08/29/2010 at 08:01 AM
I discovered your blog through Parenting Magazine and your story resonates with me as we have a five year old precious daughter with cerebral palsy as well. I appreciate your reflections, insights and how you are articulating the same trials and triumphs we experience. I know your agony and your joys and find respite in not being isolated in how these situations press upon our hearts. The highs are so high and the lows can be so low, which makes the tasks of parenting exponentially more rewarding and difficult. I have learned so much from our daughter, Ellianna, and from Elias's story, it is a love and wisdom indefinite. Thank you for sharing your heart, you certainly are not alone.
Posted by: Kimberly | 08/29/2010 at 05:20 PM
Kimberly, thank you for introducing yourself and sharing a little bit about your daughter Ellianna--I love her name! And your words:"The highs are so high and the lows can be so low, which makes the tasks of parenting exponentially more rewarding and difficult" are so right on...thank you.
Katherine, I'm honored that of all the blogs you chose mine to read and even more so that you read it all in two days, thanks for letting me know.
And yes, we NEED these moments and they do erase all the others, and remind us how sweet our little rascals are...I remember when Olive finally smiled in the thick of her months of colic and that little upturned mouth made the screaming melt away.
(Tonight Elias channeled his inner demon at bedtime but he was just soooo over-tired from a full weekend and unable to organize himself...he's still my angel underneath his tantrums)
Posted by: Christy | 08/29/2010 at 09:37 PM
Christy!
I used to follow you, back in 06-07, and just started thinking about you guys, so I googled Christy in Alaska. When I saw Everett, I knew it was you again. And when I saw (not so little anymore) Elias's smiling face, I DEFINITELY knew ;) Congratulations on Olive, and glad to see Tonsina is still in the family. <3 So glad you stuck with this blogging thing! :)
Posted by: Laura/ PinkFontGirl | 09/20/2010 at 02:33 PM