I do not know what epiphany is, but I believe I just had one

Yesterday as I was snuggling Beka Boo on the couch watching Sesame Street (our current favorite thing to do when Emma is at preschool and Ephram is down for his morning nap), Grover came on and said: “I just had an epiphany! I do not know what epiphany is, but I believe I just had one!” I just had to giggle. And what, dear friends was Grover’s epiphany? “Why, I am special! And you are special, we are all special.”  At which time he then breaks in to song. How can you not love Sesame Street? 

 

 

I have been having epiphanies. By trying hard to think before I “react”. I am so not perfect. No, not even close. But, if I can stop, even one time, the yelling and screaming, I’ve won. I love Grover’s message: I AM SPECIAL. There is no one in the whole wide world just like me. There is only one me and I’m important. Love it!

Today was interesting. Riley had his occupational therapy. This is always tricky, trying to get all 5 of us dressed and in the van by 7:30 AM. Riley was really crazy this morning. His therapist mentioned this to me. We talked a little about his diet and sleeping. Poor Riley had a hard night. He walked in his sleep and got lost. Add to this that breakfast was a banana (I was planning on getting him something on the way to school). I had a kid who was wound up tighter that a sling shot. He was grumpy and picking and being nasty.

As I was driving toward school, I had a quiet thought “He needs to run, be in the grass, see the trees, feel the sun, breath in the air. He needs to play and not be told what to do. Just for a few moments and things will be better.” This thought “He needs to run” kept coming to me.

“But, can he afford to miss any more class time? He’s already struggling in school… This can’t be a good choice”

“Yes, it is. You need to stop and let this poor kid run.”  

So, I stopped at a park. We hadn’t been to this park in a LONG time. The kids didn’t recognize it. And I let Riley out and told him to run, hard. Boy, he jumped out the van like a shot! And he ran, for five minutes hard. And then he climbed and jumped. Explored. He got to be a kid. The girls had a blast. They ran and played, went down the slides.  Beka Boo ran though the grass with her shoes off. And for 10 minutes, we found peace. It was wonderful.

Then, I had to use the restroom. So, they got 5 more minutes to play. Then I called the crew in. Well, Riley called the crew in. The girls wouldn’t come when I called. Riley called out “R.E.B. club! Come on!” and they did. Amazing.

We stopped and got Riley a breakfast sandwich. He was thankful and nice. We dropped him off an hour late to school, and I just didn’t care. I know he got more out of school today because we stopped.

The interesting thing was the trickle down effect this one act had. Emma was so nice and helpful. She was trying so hard to be a good girl today. I believe she needed the time at the park too. I felt better too. I am learning how to trust my instincts.

Riley was still hard today after school. He was having a hard time concentrating. I could feel myself getting frustrated. Working on spelling is always hard. Trying to learn those stupid spelling rules when the spelling list doesn’t follow the same spelling rule is madding! For example, this week they are working on the oo sound … in words like few or fruit. Ok, ew or ui. Got it. Then they have a word like fluid. It is pronounced: flu-id (floo-id) where fruit is pronounced: froot. Or more crazy: pursuit. For a second grader? Seriously? I have always struggled with spelling. I am so grateful to spell check.

Anyway, Riley was mind was not catching anything I was saying (which his therapist had said this morning) and I was getting cross. I took moment, and then we changed how we were working on the words. This went so much better. And I didn’t yell. I put my energy into solving the problem!

Then I let the kids play outside until dinner. I’ve given Riley a slightly bigger boundary this week. He can ride up and down the street outside our little cul-de-sac. By doing this,he found a couple of boys from school to play with. He came in sweaty and happy. Riley has been playing with the little boy next door, but he is only three and it’s been kind of hard the last couple of days. Dinner got made with no one fighting, they were too busy outside.

So, I was able to change how the day went, just by listening and doing.

I can change my world, one moment at a time!