Feb. 22, 2008 - Neat Time With Jonathan
I took Jonathan to speech therapy today. We had the neatest conversation about how God prunes the brances out of our hearts. He brought the subject up and I can't even remember how but it was in reference to how it hurts to go through the hard things in his life. He is only 8 but with more of the emotional capacity of a 4 year old most of the time. He struggles in school with making friends - he is rather an annoyance (with his ADHD). It also hard for him to grasp concepts because there are so many distractions for him. He asks me once in awhile to homeschool him. I am thinking about it for next school year. Today was so sweet though, we had this great conversation that reminded me of talks with my oldest son (who is 23) and then this little guy tells me, "we're having a good time." I asked him what he meant and he said that we were having a good time together - no conflict. I said that he was right. He asked me, "am I being fun to be with Mom?" Yes, he was. "Am I being respectful?" Yes, he was. The only one he didn't mention was being responsible - these are the three things listed for my kids, that I got from Nancy Thomas for attachment disorder kids. Then he says, "so I'm healing my heart?" Poor kid! He had been working so hard at it and then was falling for a few weeks and now he is getting back on track again. Imagine being 8 years old with that big of a burden. Not a carefree life like I remember having. My life as a child wasn't easy either, but I didn't have to think about whether I was working on healing my heart or not. I didn't have to make that big of choices at that age. My choices were more of: will I tattle on my sisters, kick my sister, tell a lie, fight with my sisters, etc. I had pain that still affects me today - but maybe that is the difference? I am helping my kids while they are kids to work through it. I want them to start adulthood better off than I was. But it is still a lot for a kid. But, my kids won't make it through the teens without trouble without help - so better now, than to wait.
