Tonight we took Iraq and The Skink to a big MacDonald's with an indoor play land. It had been raining on and off all day today, and both were ready to run and play. We got our food and sat down. Iraq headed off pretty quickly to go play and The Skink sat in the booth like a big girl and ate all her food. (She looked so grown up!)
After The Skink finished her meal, she wanted to go play too. She checked out the toddler area, but was soon drawn to the big slides and tunnels the older kids were playing on. I helped her climb the first part, but there were TONS of kids there which made it hard for me to stay with her. With a bit of worry, I set The Skink loose and hoped for the best.
After about 5 minutes, I realized a boy of about 8 or 9 years of age was sticking close to The Skink. He followed her about from tunnel to tunnel and gave her a boost when ever she got to a climbing area she couldn't manage on her own. Right there in public, I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes as I watched the boy gently help her play... and helped her feel just like all the other kids.
I know Iraq and The Skink had a wonderful time tonight, but I'll just bet that I had the best time of all.
Even though I have a positive outlook and a lot of hope for The Skink's future, I have my moments of doubt. I have moments when I wonder how The Skink feels when she is not able to keep up with her peers. I wonder if she will be left behind and forgotten. Then... some kid shows up and takes a child he has never met before, by the hand. A child who is much younger, and clearly a bit different than the other kids. Unafraid, he moves away from the other children his age. He gently guides her through the maze, making sure the other children don't step on her, and seeing that she gets a gentle push up to the next area.
And then I know everything will be OK.
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A teen with ADHD, a daughter with Asperger's and another daughter with Down syndrome... Just your every day family living on a small Virginia farm in the mountains...
She probably isn't aware of her differences just yet. It took my youngest quite a while to figure out that she wasn't always able to keep up with the others and still now at almost 8 years old she doesn't feel much different than normally developing children her age. We treat her as normal and accomodate when needed.
ReplyDeleteWhitney - I agree 100%! We treat her completely normally, but she is a bit small for her age, and is not stable on her feet yet due to very low muscle tone - double whammy from prematurity AND the Down syndrome - LOL. She still waddles like a duck with her legs spread far apart for balance. She also has ankle braces to help with pronation. We have no plans of making a point of the DS - in fact, Iraq doesn't even know. The more you expect from a kid, the more they will do. I truly believe our "special" kids are only limited by our expectations!
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