Mom of a Developmentaly Delayed Son learns.............how to let go.

Sometimes something as simple as a kid's DVD can be enough to spark personal and spiritual growth in a parent. I've begun to wonder if some of them were written for adults! Well, anyone famliar with Veggietales knows what I mean. The kids can watch a Veggietale about love and caring and go right ahead and take a toy or push their sibling without a second thought. Yet, for me I could be very convicted to change my ways. I realize how simple these things really are to apply to my life. Take the story of the Angry Eyebrows. The evil villan creates flying angry eyebrows to attach themselves to everyone in the town. Whenever someone begins to lose their temper, the eyebrow attaches permanently and that person never stops being angry. But, the only way to get the eyebrows off is to let go of one's anger. It's as simple as letting go of the offense and just giving up the anger. Having Joshua for my son means I have to do this frequently over alot of things that might mean alot to me. With a new baby in the house over the past week, Joshua has been in overdrive in his attempts to get mom's attention. One day I walked up the steps where Josh had been just seconds previously and found a photo from my wedding torn to shreds. We had to install a key lock on the bathroom door because he threw toys in the toilet 3 times. Twice this required the toilet to be taken apart and reseated. I found a way to get the pens and markers out of his hands. So, he writes on the walls with certain toys that he knows will leave marks. His new extreme sport is attempting to surf down the steps head first on his back! I'm there to stop him everytime. He now has an obsession with the clothes washer. He opens it up while it's running and throws toys and clean clothes in! He'll come to join us as we sleep in the middle of the night with a pull up full of poo! He chews mail, erasers and leaves bite marks on every nice toy. He leaves bite marks on the library DVD cases. There are bite marks on everything! Oh and he loves to stop the dishwasher in the middle of a cycle. I could have angry eyebrows 24/7. Everytime I turn around there is a new pile of shredded paper and chewed up wads. He destroyed a framed wedding photo, and he loves to push his little brother around. There's so much more, but I've learned to let it go. I put Veggietales into practice everyday!

Mom of a Developmentally Delayed Son learns.........how to properly eat a PB&J

My son Joshua gets more out of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich than anyone I know. Not only does it provide good nutrition but it meets his sensory needs, offers endless entertainment and joy, and it gives him a chance to make a huge mess to get a reaction out of mom if that were possible. Forget my attempts to teach him to eat with good manners. Forget all of my careful training about eating neatly. In fact, forget using a plate! According to Joshua, eating a PB&J properly can be done in just 7 simple steps.

Step 1: Take sandwich off plate to ensure maximum number of crumbs on the table and floor.
Step 2: Peel off the top layer of bread and set aside.
Step 3: Dig fingers into jelly the best part, make a fist and suck some of it into your mouth.
Step 4: Dig fingers into peanut butter. Eat some and then smear onto the table and chair.
Step 5: Eat the bread. Carefully avoid eating the crust.
Step 6: Toss some of the excess sticky crust onto the floor.
Step 7: Make sure to leave the table before mom has a chance to wash hands and face. Try to smear the living room couch, walls and other random places.

If you believe his way of eating a PB&J is random and incidental, then you're wrong. He has a plan and a purpose in mind. Among his purposes are to get a reaction out of mom, to create a mess, and to create laughter and enjoyment for himself in the process! In fact, Joshua is working on his next book entitled The Purpose Driven Meal. The book includes a whole chapter on the beauty and potential of tomato sauce.

Mom of a Developmentally Delayed Son discovers........balloons everywhere!

For several months now, I have noticed that whenever I am out with my son, he begins talking about balloons. I'll say something like, "OK - there are no balloons here Josh, I'm sorry." Yet he keeps on talking about them and jumping up and down. For the longest time I couldn't figure out why. Then, he learned to point to communicate and finally I realized that there really ARE balloons EVERYWHERE! Now everytime he starts talking about balloons he points up and there is ALWAYS a balloon. There was a helium balloon stuck on the ceiling at Walmart, church, Dominick's, Target, Walgreen's, Jewel, Giorgano's and IHOP to name just a few. Josh must really think alot of me because he really believes that I can retrieve them for him! Well, sometimes I can..... He can even see them going up to the sky. Josh loves to let them go and watch them fly into the air. The only problem then is that he no longer has a balloon to hold! Next time you wonder if there really are balloons everywhere just take Josh along and....look up!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, how mashed up are your branches! I keep hearing from my friends that they just haven't found time to put away everything related to the Christmas holiday yet. The Christmas tree is still up with Martha Stewart perfection. Lovely glass ornaments, cherished knick knacks, elaborate ceramic village displays and so much more. Well, at our house it's usually only the Fisher-Price Nativity set that survives year to year with a few bite marks and minor damage. Joshua had his best year ever with the Christmas tree. He actually helped make and put ornaments on. But, as we got close to Christmas Day he found a grand new activity. I went to the washroom upstairs and he figured out how to take the artificial tree apart and pull it out of the stand. Most of his life he has done this with a natural tree as well but it spills water and real needles everywhere. So we opted for an artificial tree that is pre-lit so he at least can't take off the lights. Anyway, while I was in the washroom for about 30 seconds, Joshua pulled the tree (he removed all of the ornaments and garlands) up the stairs and brought it to me. Then, he was whinning, "mama, fix tree, fix it, fix it, boo hoo!" Okay, so I learned that even artificial trees under these conditions lose needles everywhere and lights do blow out. So I went downstairs and put it back together. Joshua is really obsessed with the lights so I turned the tree on. Josh jumped up and down pointing with his finger and saying, "ristmas reee, rismas ree!" Realizing that I was not going to be able to keep the plastic ornaments with ribbon instead of metal hooks on the tree, I put them away. I opted for the ribbon since Josh would pull off and chew on the metal  hooks! I hoped to explain that the tree is a decoration rather than an oversize stuffed doll. But, he doesn't get it yet. I wish I had a video. Alas, Joshua went ahead and took the tree apart about 3 more times in the 2 days following Christmas. Realizing that Martha Stewart would be horrified, I put the tree away for next year. Now it lies mangled up in the garage waiting to be properly put away for next year! Poor Martha, she would NEVER dream of setting foot in MY home! It's a good thing we have friends like the VanWijks who quite enjoy the comedy of these things and enjoyed Thanksgiving with us. Maybe I should start a new reality show. I'll call it, Martha's Nightmare. I'll make millions!