Monday, November 7, 2011

Thankful for broken casts.

Today I have a really good excuse for not updating in a while. The kids are out of school now for their long break. And it has been busy! But so much fun. I really do love having them home more. Things are more relaxed. And there is no math homework in the afternoons! YAY!

My mom is coming in two days and will be here with me for 11 days. I have a lot planned! :) I love visits from home and treasure them as they are pretty rare.

5 weeks ago one of our kids broke his arm. He is 9 years old. And I have had a really hard time bonding with him. He is very quiet, stoic, and standoffish. He doesn't like any kind of hugging or kissing. I asked him about it once. I said to him that that was how I showed my love to the rest of the kids. Not knowing much of his history, I decided to back off as I could be adding more trauma instead of making him feel loved.

About a month ago I was looking at some older pictures of him and I together. And I remembered when he first came to the home. He wanted to be near me. He would sit next to me, put his arm around me. When did things change? And how could I get him back? What had happened to make him feel differently about me?

So last week his cast broke at the elbow. It is a cheap cast and he is a 9 year old boy with a high tolerance for pain. It had ripped right open. So I was elected to take him to the hospital to get it looked at. I was nervous, that is for sure. I wasn't sure I would understand what they were telling me (why I still have an issue with that, I have no idea. I understand 95% of the time!)

Off we went. We didn't talk much on the way there. I explained to him that he needed to let us know when things like this happen (his cast had opened up the day before and he didn't tell anyone. He was just happy that he could get his fingers in there to scratch!).  It was a fast fix at the hosptial. They just reinforced it. I was a bit leary but figured it should hold up for a bit longer anyway.

On the way home we had to get a treat. I let him choose a chocolate bar and he got a pop. He was pretty happy and was savoring it. On the way back he started talking to me. I asked questions and he told me stories about the 3 other homes he had been in. He was in his fourth home and he is only 9! He told me about his sisters. It was great. I loved that he was opening up to me. And since then we have been doing so much better!

He now sits with me, comes up to me to say hello, and lets me kiss him. He even initiated a hug yesterday! I am glad to have him back.

In other news, I had a tupperware party on the weekend. Ha! I did it as a favor for a friend. It was fun and I made really good homemade cinnamon buns. :)

Hope you guys have a great week! I will. With my mom. :D