Do It Your Own Fine Self

So last night The Boy woke us up at 2:30 am.

“Mom!” “Mom!”

“Mom!” “Mom!” “Mom!”

Now, my attitude is if there’s no bleeding or vomiting, I don’t get up. The Mom, however, being more awesome and compassionate, does get up. Although I’m not sure she was actually awake.

So anyway, she goes into The Boy’s room to see what the trouble is.

“Mom, can you turn me on my side, please?”

What are you going to do?

On the one hand, my heart breaks when The Boy asks me to do anything for him, because it reminds me of all the challenges he faces. Every. little. thing. is. an. issue. And I want to help. And make life easier for him.

On the other hand, 2:30 am!?!

Especially since I KNOW he can roll over by himself. It’s hard, but he can do it. And his physical therapist says he’s got to start building his independence.

And now that The Boy is 11, we can see that, emotionally, he wants to be independent. But at the same time, like any of us, if he can get someone else to do it for him …

So we walk this fine line. And mostly seem to stumble off both sides of it — independence vs. dependence, and not really sure how to make interdependence work.

According to the physical therapist, if The Boy CAN do it, he MUST do it. Or do without.

But you see, I really like being needed by The Boy. It makes me feel good. Except at 2:30 am.

And so we struggle onward.

How about you?

On a related note, check out this very cool video on shoes Nike is developing for folks with cerebral palsy:

Through the Roof

A Blog Supported by the Mosaic ministry of Third Church, ECO

"Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on." (Mark 2:3-4)

About: This is a blog about accessibility, intimacy, and community. About being welcome.  It’s also about bringing up The Boy. He's 11 years old and has cerebral palsy. Also popping up are The TeenGirl, who just turned 13, and The Mom, who is awesome. It's written by The Dad. It's my words, my view. Other people will think differently and have different opinions. Good.