LETTING GO OF WORRY

Last Wednesday the boys and I set up shop in our Explorer and headed up to visit the Fergusons in Naperville (aka Pleasantville) and Deirdra downtown. I always LOVE making the trip up there because Matthew adores Griffin and Owen and frankly, turns into a grown-up little person!

Matthew is without a doubt a wonderful little boy with the sweetest disposition and a silly, contagious, three-year-old ability for joking:) He truly is my pride and joy! Yet, as socially and congnitively adapted as I know he is, it seems to me that he shows more independence and know-how when he's around his cousins. Granted, he's around a bunch of little tykes here at home (with school and our playgroups), yet I truly see a difference in him when he's around kids he's most comfortable with. It makes me feel so wonderful because (as all parents do) I worry about stupid, little things as though they're the end of the world.

Watching him this past weekend affirmed my belief that parents, no matter how worried they may be, need to let their kids progress at their own speed and on their own terms. Its so easy for adults (and professionals) to compare kids with their peers because - at least for me - its easier to see through comparison than to remember what its like at that age. Bottom line: kids grow at their own pace and NOTHING (not even parent's pleads and enticing bargains) will EVER change how they develop. So although Matthew is having difficulty potty training, I've finally accepted that he'll someday overcome the fear and embrace NOT sitting in his own poop :) He won't be sixteen and wearing diapers right? So be it.

Its refreshing to come to these terms because, to be honest, its been about a year or so in the making. It certainly was not an overnight relief in my book, but I'm beginning to really accept how it is and vow to stop worrying over every little delay, regression, or decrease in his life. He's a darling boy ... said and done.

Despite all of this worry, our little dude is free of any concern or frustration. Instead, in his eyes he's simply "a stegasaurous who has big feet and likes to eat leaves." Beautiful isn't it?? Childhood innocence can be such a blessed thing and I'll be the first to say, no one -- NO ONE -- can argue with that!

Thanks to our families and friends for the words of encouragement and validation. Your support is always our backbone in times of over-indulged concern :)