Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Park Day

Today was one of those days. You know the one I mean. The warm, sunny day that comes after a long winter. The day that beckons you, “Come out and play.” Well my son woke up ready to answer that call in his pajamas, so we headed to the park as soon as possible.
For those of you with sons, you know what I mean when I say, “The park can be a little scary.” Oh yes, there is a toddler size play area, where he could climb gently and his feet could reach the ground when coming down the slide. The toddler play area is less than a foot above the ground and is nicely enclosed, so there is no way to fall off. 
However, my son resists this area by throwing himself in the wood chips to loosen my grip on his hand and dashes to the school age climbing area where he has to use all of his strength just to crawl on to the first step. Then he runs across the elevated platform like a bull coming out of its pen and heads for the tallest slide( which he insists on going down head first on his tummy), all the while weaving back and forth between the openings that would lead to a bone crushing 9 foot drop for my 23.5 lb peanut.
Needless to say, I was so focused on my babe that I had tuned out another crying child. My son, however, did not miss a beat. He slammed on the breaks half way across the platform, and made a b-line down the curvy slide to the kid sitting in the dirt with tears rolling down his face.
Though it was obvious to me that this child was overreacting to a small bump, I asked his frazzled older sister if I could help. She said, “He has special needs and is going to become hysterical any moment and I cannot reach my mom.” I bent down and asked him, “What hurts honey?” He replied, “My foot is broken and… and… and… I am going to need surgery.” I slipped off his shoe and gently flexed it and evaluated it for any redness or swelling. As I expected all was well. Before I could give him the prognosis though, Sammy flung his arms around him, hugging him tight enough around the neck to make his head pop off.  The kid instantly smiled, put his sock and shoe on, and got up.
Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."
-- Mark Twain

2 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness CarrieAnne, I think this blog might make me cry with each post. Your boy sounds simply WONDERFUL, what a sweet heart. :)

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  2. I hope when I have kids, they'll be as sweet as Sammy!

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