But today we did it. And it went pretty well. Kyle's little head can barely see over the David, but he got the job done without injuring another human being or knocking over displays of baked goods.
Along the way, I noticed that we had seen the same older woman in several of the aisles. She approached me as I was getting ready to head to the check out lane. She thought she had never seen such a perfect family. And well behaved children. As I looked over my shoulder to see who she was speaking to, I realized it was me! Such a nice compliment. But she only got to see a 5 minute glimpse (and must've missed us in the toy section as Kyle was racing down the lego aisle at top speed with me yelling at him to slow down) in what can only be a life called anything but "perfect".
Oh, I had great intentions of being just that when I had kids. All sunshine and roses. Then the children actually came into my life. Perfection went right out the window.
Now, I obviously have 2 kids. They're both boys. But their similarities really end there. David has exceptional needs. And Kyle's are more typical. Hence two completely different ways that I can go perfectly WRONG!
In the last two days I can think of several things that would have gone right if I had been perfect.
Some of my special needs imperfections:
David wears braces on his perfectly imperfect feet to keep them from turning out. He SHOULD wear them all the time. Yesterday we weren't feeling it.
Schedule is very important to a kid like David. He thrives on it. It's spring break. Schedule Smhedule.
I thought things were going well when we left the house this morning. His braces were on. He was looking cute. Diaper bag was packed. Or maybe not. I learned the very hard way that there were no baby wipes in that bag. Oops.
Or forgetting the extension in the drainer of the sink at home. Now this extension is David's lifeline to food. Luckily, we keep extras in a small backpack that is always on the wheelchair. (Because guess what? We've done this before!)
A few of my typical imperfections:
Last night Kyle went to a movie with a friend. Came home. Michael and I had tacos for dinner. Kyle had a tortilla. I figured he was full from his popcorn appetizer.
This morning his attitude was a little too much for me. He was grounded from video games. I forgot. He's playing Star Wars as I type this.
Yes. We watch Spongebob in this house. He taught Kyle what condemned means. LOL. Sometimes I just need 30-60 minutes of time in this house where he's not asking me questions.
And one last "typical" imperfection as parent. Bribery. If you've never used it to try to get your child to do something necessary, you really may be perfect.
With all of my imperfections though, one thing I know for sure is that they are both loved to an extreme. They give me reason to smile. They are our world.
