Catching Flies

This morning when I went in Wil’s room to wake him up, he was laying face up, head tilted slightly back and mouth wide open. Catching flies, as my mom used to say.

I decided to let him keep up his fly catching another 10 minutes. We could spare that time and it would do him good. Sleep is central to most of us having a successful day. In Wil, lack of sleep is quite noticeable. If Wil’s bedtime of 8:30pm is extended to 9pm, the slight half hour change can mean the difference between a productive day and a drag your feet day.

When I did wake him up, he was good-natured, but slow to move. He was full of hugs and good mornings, and giggles. I teased him that if he didn’t get out of bed, I would eat him up for breakfast. Katherine hollered from the other room, “No Mom, I’m eating Wil for breakfast!”

“Hey, I called Wil for breakfast first Katherine!” I hollered back.

“Nope, he’s mine mom and I’m hungry!” Katherine said walking toward Wil’s room.

“Hey! Stop it! I’m not a food!” Wil bolted upright in bed.

Ah, ha! Gotcha moving! I thought silently. I hug-lifted him out of bed, and got him to his dresser. He’s very particular about what he wears, so I then left him to his own devices to get dressed.

He emerged a few minutes later, fully dressed. “Look at me mom!” He had a turquoise shirt and khaki colored pants. Wil has a knack for making just about anything fun. Every single morning he comes out thrilled with his outfit choice.

“Looking sharp! I have your breakfast.” I said.

“Thanks mom.”

“Wil, you just make everything fun.”

I hear so much complaining, and sometimes I wonder, will this really matter a few years down the road? Living with Wil, a lot of things I used to fret or get upset about just don’t matter like they used to. I would just be plain exhausted all the time.

I can’t afford to have a bad day with Wil, or that means he will have a bad day, and that swings right back to me. It’s not a good cycle.

I need to be patient every.single.day. Not because I’m a patient person. And not because I have been bestowed some special gift. I can’t just expect Wil to do something because “I told you so.” I also have to rely on a lot of people for Wil’s success. Just this morning, I sat at a table at the school for a review of Wil’s behavior plan thanking my lucky stars Wil has those people by his side. Because you get the team you get in your school. You don’t have much choice in the matter and you have to make it work with the team you have or change schools.

Sometimes I feel apathetic to certain complaints I hear from others because of these experiences. And I’ve had to wait and be patient when I feel I have no patience left. I’ve also learned to let go and let things happen. And that is exactly why I celebrate whatever Wil walks out of his room dressed in every day.

It’s a celebration of Wil making a choice to take on his day after some nudging and creativity has been put in place. It’s a celebration of the dexterity Wil now has to get dressed on his own (he still needs help on small buttons, so thank you Old Navy for having pull up pants in his size). It’s a celebration of Wil being proud of his accomplishments and choices.

With all of that said, it’s also a celebration of the simplicity of a turquoise shirt and khaki pants. When you are introduced to the amazing capability of celebrating the most simple of things, like Wil has introduced to me, you can create happiness out of just about anything.