Circle Round

He's HOW old? I can't believe he's 13 today. But he is.  Middle Man turns 13 today!  Some day his name will be in lights...get ready world here he comes.

 When he was born my world turned upside down.  An emergency c-section, 11 days in ICU, liver jaundice, possible skull fusion, traumatic birth. But he made it through, we made it through.  And we learned how strong we all were as a family. 

Later when he was three years old he taught me another lesson, time is precious.  He was stung by a bee and my whole world was turned upside down.  Since then we've survived 10 bee seasons with an epipen case in his backpack and he's never gotten stung again.

When he was five we learned he had a blood clot disorder.  I thought at the time that I could write a Charles Dickens like novel based on my fives years with him.  He was/is so dramatic and let me tell you fellow moms, he has been my most challenging child.  Not because of his medical conditions but because of who he is.  He's intense.  He's dramatic and creative.  He's a deep feeling boy who takes photos and draws pictures, he can read a 300 page book in a DAY.  He never stops questioning or learning he's high and he's low.

Middle Man has been my greatest teacher.  I have learned so much being his mom.  In honor of his 13th birthday here's my short list:
I've learned.....

• that time does stand still on occasion
• that it's better to tell a child, "Everything will be alright" rather than to validate their feelings of fear, during a time of extreme medical crisis....even when you don't really know if it will be.
• anyone, any age can be an artist.