March 20, 2023
Celebrating the ‘Late’ Successes
A few days ago, someone said to a friend of mine, who has an autistic son so similar to Cooper that you’d think they were brothers, that her posts about her son were negative.
She was upset of course. She didn’t feel like she was being negative. She thought she was just sharing their life. And him. And in fact, she celebrates her son much like I do Coops.
I told her my hunch.
That people looking in ‘think’ we are being negative when we share because our kids do things differently.
Often this means later than they should. Or modified. Or not at all.
And my hunch is they think our posts are sad. When in reality, we are celebrating. As parents we are thrilled. Proud.
Excited. Because we know how hard our kids get to work there. And we don’t care that they are ‘late.’ Not one bit. The success is not less sweeter.
So here goes an example.
We moved into our new home in October, mid covid and isolation and right before a long Minnesota winter. And we didn’t get much of a chance to meet our neighbors. Or their kids.
Today, just a few moments ago, I heard an old familiar sound. Children laughing. Shenanigans. Chaos. And sure enough when I peeked out, our cul-du-sac was full of kids.
Within seconds of me saying…’Sawyer! There are kids outside!’ He was gone. With a little brother behind him.
Seconds later Cooper appeared. He peeked out the door, found his shoes, and was gone.
My loner. My nonspeaker. My Cooper.
He has never done this before. Never willingly went, on his own, to play with the kids. On his own.
And as I’m typing this, and crying, he’s now running around with them and laughing as they throw snowballs.
I don’t care that it’s late.
I don’t care that it took 12 years.
I don’t care about any of that stuff.
Because this is one of those amazing moments that I will remember forever.
I am celebrating and soaking up every second of this.
Honestly, the success is sweeter BECAUSE it took so long for him.
He is having fun. As one of the kids.
People looking in…this is a happy picture.
Finding Cooper’s Voice is a safe, humorous, caring and honest place where you can celebrate the unique challenges of parenting a special needs child. Because you’re never alone in the struggles you face. And once you find your people, your allies, your village….all the challenges and struggles will seem just a little bit easier. Welcome to our journey. You can also follow us on Facebook.
