Cade has been attending swimming lessons for almost two weeks. We have been with the same group of people the whole time. The other parents have heard my son talk for almost the whole two weeks. Yesterday, when Cade was getting out of the pool he was walking swiftly towards me saying "Mama" loudly. The same man who has been there everyday for almost two weeks looks directly at my son and says, "Wow, you have a scary voice. Why do you always want to sound like a monster?"
I was CRUSHED and my heart broke right there. It took every once of strength within in my body not to burst into tears at the moment. I just calmly looked over at him and said, "He had a trach for 2.5 years of his life so this is his ALL the time." I could tell at that instant the man felt horrible for saying that to my sweet baby, but tears were still stinging my eyes. As soon as all the kids were dried off and he came over to apologize saying he felt like he committed a social fopa. I am not sure that committing a social fopa would have been the correct thing to apologize for, more like breaking a mother's heart or maybe even hurting my 5.5 years old feelings. He also apologized to Cade at the same time. Before I had a chance to say "Thank you. It isn't a big deal" (although my heart was telling me otherwise), Cade looked him right in the eyes and told him in is BIG BOY VOICE - "It's okay, It's okay" and hugged him.
My sweet boy - oh how he continues to teach me. Even when my heart is breaking for him - even when I want to scream and yell at those silly adults who make fun of my baby because they don't know. Why not just ask politely about his voice instead of making a joke about it and breaking his mother's heart?
Last year, I cried a week before school started every single night because I was scared to death for Cade to start Pre-K. I was scared all the kids would make fun of his voice. The same thing has now started for Kindergarten. What if they all make fun of his voice? What if he notices like he noticed that man at swimming lessons?
I will be honest, I can't stop the tears that are streaming down my face right now. I am not sure how. All I know is I have one strong, sweet boy.
I was CRUSHED and my heart broke right there. It took every once of strength within in my body not to burst into tears at the moment. I just calmly looked over at him and said, "He had a trach for 2.5 years of his life so this is his ALL the time." I could tell at that instant the man felt horrible for saying that to my sweet baby, but tears were still stinging my eyes. As soon as all the kids were dried off and he came over to apologize saying he felt like he committed a social fopa. I am not sure that committing a social fopa would have been the correct thing to apologize for, more like breaking a mother's heart or maybe even hurting my 5.5 years old feelings. He also apologized to Cade at the same time. Before I had a chance to say "Thank you. It isn't a big deal" (although my heart was telling me otherwise), Cade looked him right in the eyes and told him in is BIG BOY VOICE - "It's okay, It's okay" and hugged him.
My sweet boy - oh how he continues to teach me. Even when my heart is breaking for him - even when I want to scream and yell at those silly adults who make fun of my baby because they don't know. Why not just ask politely about his voice instead of making a joke about it and breaking his mother's heart?
Last year, I cried a week before school started every single night because I was scared to death for Cade to start Pre-K. I was scared all the kids would make fun of his voice. The same thing has now started for Kindergarten. What if they all make fun of his voice? What if he notices like he noticed that man at swimming lessons?
I will be honest, I can't stop the tears that are streaming down my face right now. I am not sure how. All I know is I have one strong, sweet boy.
1 comments:
What a horrible thing for that man to say! Think of the gift of teaching empathy and understanding that your son brings to all those around him with his kind spirit of forgiveness. You have clearly loved him well!
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