Friday, 19 March 2010

• "Mom, I Hate the Rain"

  My son, Brandon, has always hated the rain ever since I can remember. As an adult, he continues to struggle with the weather.  Just the other day, this was part of a conversation Brandon and I had, “Mom, I hate the rain, the wind, and the heat, but the heat is better than the rain and the wind.  The wind is annoying. I hate the rain, I hate the rain, I hate the rain!” He repeated this over and over again.

  When Brandon gets stuck in this kind of mode he just has to repeat himself until he has said it enough.  I used to get upset and say don’t say it anymore, but that didn’t work, so I was forced to figure out what would. I told Brandon you may repeat yourself 20 more times and after that we need to talk about something else. He liked that he had my permission to repeat himself, and he knew he had a limited amount of times to say it, and it worked. It was as if we were playing a game. It became fun instead of annoying. By the twentieth time he was able to stop, and we moved on to another subject. Once again, as parents, we are asked to think outside the box.  Brandon keeps my creative juices flowing.  

  
  

  We never know what we will need to do next in order to help our children.  However, over the past thirty six years I have been asked to step up to the plate hundreds of times.  Often, I would strike out, but when I got those home runs it was a great feeling.  Brandon and I were on the same page, and life rolled along for a while.  Raising children is a process, but raising our special needs kids is a much more challenging process due to their special needs.

  So when you have those days where you want to scream or pull the covers over your head and hide please remember you are not alone. Those times will pass, and you will become stronger.  Your creative juices will be forced to kick in, and you too will find the answers. They may not always come quickly, but I promise you they will come.

  Keep the Faith,

  Amalia Starr