Finding yourself in the present moment: When you can’t press time on a child with Down syndrome

I meditate. 10 minutes a day. With Headspace. I get to choose when and where I meditate. My chosen 10 minutes of living in the present. It is bliss. It is zen. It is being. It is da bomb. 

But being put in the present moment when it’s not my chosen 10 minutes? Is there a fast-forward button on this present moment thing?

Last night Matt and I both got home about 7pm. Wil had two sheets of homework. Just one sheet, depending on Wil’s mood, can take hours or minutes. Currently Wil is congested. So he’s tired. Hours, rather than minutes, was the likely scenario. We usually start homework about 4:30 so Wil can take multiple breaks, if needed. Knowing I’d be home later, I asked Katherine and Elizabeth to work on one of the sheets with him, giving him breaks, and I’d complete the rest with him when I got home. Katherine and Elizabeth are very good at doing homework with Wil, and he enjoys his big sisters’ help. But even they could only elicit 3 answers of the 25 questions from Wil. 

In the end, pulling out all the silliness, encouragement and creativity we could muster, 7 questions were answered of the 25. The other sheet remained completely blank. Wil went to bed and immediately fell asleep. I did the same. It was exhausting for all of us. 

You can’t press time on Wil. The minute he senses force, he responds with like force. Taking breaks is a necessity. A brief break can save hours. He requires encouragement. Silliness always wins. Creativity a must. Some days are a breeze, and other days, like last night, are stumpers. 

On school mornings, I wake Wil up knowing it will take him 10 minutes to get out of bed. He requires a hug first. Then another hug. And another. And another. Then tickles and lots of giggles. Then we decide on what is for breakfast. Eating breakfast is a hot topic. He loves to eat, and it’s usually leftovers from dinner or a sandwich. He’s not into cereal. After breakfast, brushing his teeth is another process. He is a sensory kid. This too requires patience, silliness and creativity. Some days, brushing teeth is left until after school because of the time it can take. 

All of these moments with Wil require me to be present. If I press time on him, then it’s like taking 2 leaps back. Though I can predict these times with a fair amount of accuracy, they are not my chosen times to be in the present. This can be admittedly frustrating. When time feels too short to be in the present moment. Can we just move this show along already? 

At this point in my life, I don’t believe that being in the present moment is filled with bliss. That is, if it’s not at a time of our choosing. When I really want to press time on Wil, but know I can not, I have to find my silliness. I have to find my creativity. I have to find another well of patience. Some days I do better than others. When I reach a point of losing my cool, I get more creative. I get sillier. And my well deepens even more. So while the present moment is not what I’d call bliss, I’m still deeply grateful for my growth in it. Because I can’t press time on Wil, the present moment presses on me to grow. Maybe that is the lesson of the present moment–growth and gratitude. At least that is the theory I’m going with right now. And I’ve got about a million morning hugs to back that theory up.