I don’t blog often because others do it much better than I do. At first, I really wanted this Website to be fully dedicated to cloth diapering but something happened to me last week that has changed me so much that I HAVE to share it with as many people as I can. In the world we live in now, blogging is, in my opinion, the best way to go.
I want to talk about my new friend Paul (fictive name), and how he changed the way I look at things since we’ve met. Paul is 8 years old and has just started 3rd grade like any other 8 year old. We met for the first time at my son’s school bus stop 2 weeks ago. His older brother and my son go to the same school, but Paul does not. The first time I saw him with his mom and brother waiting for the bus I did not really look at him. I was too uncomfortable. The next morning they were there again, then again the day after, so inevitably his mom and I started to chat. She asked me what I was doing for living etc. etc. She then asked me if I could help her with Paul because of a conflict with her schedule and Paul’s school bus. All I would have to do is go back home with him and wait 10-20 minutes for his bus, and that’s it.
At this point you must think: “What is the big deal and where is she going with that?”. So let’s track back a little. I said that I was uncomfortable to look at Paul. Well, Paul is in a wheel chair. He has cerebral palsy and is earing impaired (he has implants). Bottom line, he doesnt' walk and he doesn't talk.
To be really honest, my first thoughts when his mom asked me for some help were: “Why in the world did I say I was working from home?!?!” Yes, I admit it, for a few long seconds I was trying to get out of that situation so I wouldn’t have to do it. Since I only had irrational reasons I accepted.
My first morning alone with him was last Tuesday. The entire week-end before, I was really nervous and hundreds of questions were going through my mind. Let's call a cat "a cat", I was scared. Well it turned out that Paul is the sweetest thing: and I really mean SWEETEST. He is such a happy boy! He plays tricks, laughs at little things, is excited to go to school every morning, tries to play with my 3 year old, looks happy to see me in the morning. It is really difficult to explain how he makes me feel, but lets say that every time I think or talk about Paul I get goose bumps. Not only he makes me, as a parent, realize how lucky we are to have such healthy kids, but as a person, he makes me see things differently. How can I be complaining about trivial things like running out of salt or having laundry to do when this kid, who can barely do anything by himself, is so happy all the time? It does not mean that I won’t get mad or complain ever again, but it definitely puts things in perspective. So from now on, my only complaint is that the week-ends are too long and I don’t get to see Paul for 2 entire days!!!
Thank you little man for opening my eyes! See you Monday morning...