Tonight we went to Dish for a surprise belated birthday party for Audrey. Happy 40th birthday Audrey! She and Leslie had their son Cooper on Sept 10th and she did not get to celebrate with friends properly on her actual birthday which was the 5th soooo....off we went. It was an extended family affair and we had a great time. Greyson was a good boy although he wasn't much for their cheeseburger. We went to Ms Cathy's afterward for cheesecake and Greyson was totally loving entertaining the babies. Blake and Cooper were loving the songs he was playing. Blake is Shaun and Stephanie's son. he was born 51/2 weeks prior to Cooper. They are gonna be great buddies for sure and Greyson can be like a big brother. Tonight Michele and I were talking about how we sense how some people still give us that feeling like they think Greyson is just spoiled....oh well. We just started talking while we went to McDonald's to get Greyson a happy meal. (Just for the record, no one that was with us tonight made us feel that way.) Think what you will...the majority of our good friends and extended family know that there is much more to it. Those who doubt or do not understand...well....they don't matter. "Those who care don't matter and those who matter don't care." Words to live by. We also started thinking about when he was little and how sensitive he was to loud noises and how easily he would startle. We remembered a funny story. Well...funny but not funny if you will. When he was a baby, but able to sit up and start getting into things, he was playing in front of the stereo pushing buttons while I was doing something in the dining room. I was watching him but did not think much of it until all of the sudden the stereo came on full blast....blasting music very loudly. I mean wake the neighbors loud and he was full on petrified in front of the stereo, arms up in the air shaking, mouth open wide like he wanted to scream, eyes bugged out, in a full blown panic. He couldn't move but just sat their paralyzed for what seemed like forever until I could run over and turn the darn stereo off. Then he just fell over backwards. I seriously thought he was going to have a heart attack! Well....it was funny to see but I think it put him nearly over the edge. Especially since we now know he has sensory issues. He still hates loud although at times he gets rather loud when talking just like me. Michele and I can laugh about it now but the poor guy was ruined when it happened. He was so upset. Well...just another story for the record.
Susan and I were talking about these things today too and she can totally relate. Megan had a similar instance with a fire alarm. Strange how some kids are so effected by these things and others just go about their day learning and getting all of the right cues to move forward on their journey. What causes some to be so adversely effected? What is different? What makes them see, hear, taste, small and feel things so differently in the world? I know some people will always doubt, think that we just baby him too much and that he is just spoiled. Whatever....let them think it. Michele and I chose to have a child and we regret nothing about it. Does that mean we have to give up alot of things that we used to do, or give up having things we would like to have....yes, it does. That is OK. For your child you do this and it is worth the sacrifice. We knew when we had him it would be hard and sacrifices would have to be made. When we found out he had Aspergers it was sad knowing he would be challenged in many ways and we would have to sacrifice even more. But don't be fooled. We are good with that. We love him, we still regret nothing, and yes....we chose to have him knowing that our lives would change. Since his diagnoses I have even less time for friends but I have a responsibility to him. A responsibility to take him to therapy 2x a week, to keep him in swimming, Karate, make sure his homework is done and make time to play and let him be a 7 year old boy. I am not whining or looking for sympathy but I do hope everyone knows just how much of my time is occupied by the only boy I have ever really loved besides my father. He is #1 in my life and takes full priority when it comes to helping him lead the most normal life he can. Some may think it is all BS and that a good whipping or something would nip his behavior in the bud. It doesn't matter, Michele and I know him and we know better. We know what it looks like to those who aren't living it, but tough. I cannot carry a sign 24/7 stating his condition and I would not if I could. My son is a loving and wonderful boy with very real challenges and issues but best of all he is an extremely talented artist, musician, Thespian, and eccentric boy extraordinaire. We love him to the whole wide world and that is all that will ever matter. We are parents who are at times overwhelmed with our new challenges. Yes we grieve in some moments and celebrate others. Everything we knew about being parents is having to be re-written. But we are up for the task and we will prevail. We will prevail for Greyson because that is what loving him unconditionally is all about. Bring it on...If you want to learn more about Aspergers or doubt that it is real, just click on the links at the bottom of our blog. They are very informative and may help you see the world as we do in a totally different light. You see, everyone has a story, so before you place judgement on any situation you may want to stop and think that things are almost never as they seem.
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