Socks and Earthquakes

I have to laugh a little about this, in a "life is crazy" kind of way. Here the entire east coast has been focusing on earthquakes and hurricanes this past week, and I am distracted and delighted by the fact that Lilli is almost pulling up her own socks. But life is about the little stuff too. Lilli has taught me much about appreciating the little things in life.

Last week was our first full week, from 9 to 5:15 every day. With the ABA therapist, Lilli worked on sign language, typing the words "star" and "bus," pulling up her own socks and pants, and matching objects. She worked on new websites with the teacher, matching letters and typing short words. Pretty much everything is done "hand-over-hand" - we take her hand and make her hand do it with ours - with the hope that Lilli will eventually learn to do it herself.

It was a fantastic, exhausting, whirlwind of a week. Chloe started 4k, and Josh is, well he is just an 18 month old maniac. I adore Lilli's therapist that comes every day. Her homebound teacher is sweet and wonderful with Lilli. I am so excited about getting this much help for her. By Friday I was drained, but in a good way.

There was a time when I was worried about Lilli not getting what she needed in her education. There are so many factors in getting the right balance of everything for a child with special needs. Having Lilli learn at home is the right thing for her right now. But I could never do a good job by myself. I know what to do, but I need people to help me to do it. I have two other children who need my attention for much of the day. I spend time cooking every day just for Lilli's special diet. Potty training has been a very challenging ordeal so far. Lilli can do very little for herself. I cannot stress how very blessed we are to have ABA therapy in our home each day.

I think my favorite moment of this past week was when I was helping Lilli put her socks on at the end of the week. She had worked on it for days with the therapist. We put her sock on her foot for her, but then she has to reach down and grab it and pull it up. I put her sock on her foot and helped her position her hands around the top of the sock. She pulled it up herself and I cheered and clapped.

If you want to be humbled by how blessed you are to be a healthy, independent human being, come over and watch Lilli try to pull up her socks. We are blessed. When you put on your socks tomorrow morning, tell yourself, "I am blessed." Because you are. I told you, Lilli has taught me a lot.

By the way… I did not feel the earthquake, although a lot of people around here did. At the time, the therapist and I were getting Lilli ready to go outside to jump on the trampoline. We might have even been helping her to pull up her socks.