About a month ago, B and I were in the waiting room of the pediatric therapy center M goes to for private occupational therapy each week.
There was a boy there, a couple of years older than B, waiting with his mother for his appointment.
It was clear that the boy was on the high functioning end of the spectrum. His social skills were a bit immature and robotic; things that my delightfully non-judgmental B didn't care about at all.
At one point, the boy said to his mother (while looking at me), 'Is that his Mom?'
Before the mother could answer, B did it for her by saying, 'Yes. That's my Mom. She cries a lot!'
WTF?!!
Fortunately, the Mom looked at me and said with what I believed to be complete honesty, 'That's okay. I do too!'
We laughed about the waiting room at a therapy center being a safe zone for such frankness. Perhaps B, even at the age of three, also sensed that because I have never ever heard him say something like that before that moment! (and I better not ever again!)
Naturally I fixated on this statement for a little while. Does he really think I cry a lot? Do I cry a lot?!
Don't we all cry for our children at times, special needs or not?
That afternoon in that waiting room has definitely stuck with me. I try to keep my emotions a tiny bit more in check in front of B. But I don't entirely regret the fact that I so often wear my heart on my sleeve. It's a part of who I am, and hopefully B will always know that it's not because I'm crazy (well, not too crazy, at least) and instead that I just really, really care.
Ahh, insecurities. Aren't they a bitch?
6 comments:
"She cries alot." Oh I can't help but laugh! That would definitely be a wakeup call regardless of how much you really do cry in front of your children. I would feel the same insecurities!
I think tears are a badge of honour now... I seriously never cried before autism.
Now... I cry a lot too. Hopefully, the percentage of happy/unhappy tears is balancing out.
:)
my daughter says i yell a lot, so thats a lot more embarrassing than crying. its better to cry than yell :). of course, i do both, but i tend to cry behind closed doors only :)
Well, thats better than "she swears a lot" which I will no doubt hear from my toddler soon enough :)
Oh Deb - I think C would say the same thing - especially if he saw me talking to his teachers. If he noticed, he would roll his eyes at my inability to contain my emotions. I feel your pain.
And, to go with the current flow, at least he didn't say, "That's my Mom. She toots a lot." (toot is our nice word for it.)
@Alicia and Nicole, swearing and yelling are most definitely right up there with crying. He just hasn't expressed that to anyone else...YET!
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