Possibilities

It's been a loooong week at the McQ household. I have been mostly spending every spare minute trying to get some online testing finished for work, and you know, being a mom. Hanging over my head is the newsletter I need to write for the KT group, as well as designing a postcard for my old chiropractor in California. I'd say I'm dealing with it all really well by eating more chocolate, and neglecting myself. I have, though, showered every day this week, because personal hygiene is paramount.

The weather has been wreaking havoc on everyone's mood at school. First of all, there's been SUNSHINE all week long. Geez Louise. I was so relieved when I woke this morning to cloudy skies threatening freezing rain and snow. That's more like it.
Seriously though, what with the full moon this week and the cold, dry air making everyone a conduit for the lightening-strength static electricity, and the bitter cold (well, not mid-western bitter cold, but still, really damn cold for us), I was working double time with the kids. There were meltdowns of Titanic proportions this week, tantrums that made me feel as though I just wanted to take a nap. But drink first. I actually DID take a nap yesterday, something I can never do but managed yesterday to make it home, crawl under the covers and sleep for an hour and a half while my wonderful husband kept the boy busy.

Through this whole week, as distracted and exhausted as I have been, Joe-Henry has been my constant reminder of the joy that is to be had in the world. He's been in the best mood, laughing about everything, so interested in the world. He's going through another of those growth-spurts that take him from one part of childhood to another, and I'm feeling as though everytime I look at him, he's my boy, but different in some huge way. His brain is going five-thousand miles a minute. He's stopped playing Star Wars and is moving on to other landmarks in boydom: Football, basketball, dinosaurs and of course, fart and poop jokes. Of course, those last two have been with us for a while, because, well, he is our son after all and my husband and I have VERY sophisticated taste in humor, but lately, the jokes actually make sense. He's been very active and more social, which is something I've been hoping for. He's been asking to play with friends, advocating for that by himself, which is always something I've had to push him toward.

I've been less worried about him, and of course, now that I've said that out loud, I'm sure I'll find something to worry about. But he's just been so happy, and funny. I took him to see Walking With Dinosaurs last week, on the day that he had studied about Martin Luther King in school, and as the Paleontologist explained about the Meat Eaters Vs. The Plant Eaters, Joe-Henry leaned over and whispered "Mom, if Martin Luther King was a Dinosaur, he TOTALLY would have made the Meat Eaters get along with The Plant Eaters!"

In a world where the realities are so harsh for so many, I feel incredibly blessed to be invited into his reality, where the possibilities are wondrous and abundant. Because, even though my cynical grown-up brain might not see the hope and grace at first glance, through his eyes, it's there, as bright as the winter sun.