She wailed that B had her popcorn. Popcorn being used loosely as the container that once held popcorn kernels, gladly accepted by her at its end as an addition to her kitchen belongings….this thing that B was handling in front of her (the nerve) with an item of his already stuffed inside. To keep my headache from getting worse, he was asked to take said item out and put the (apparently) deeply cherished plastic popcorn container back in her kitchen in its rightful place.
I watched as he maneuvered the lid off, took his item out, then re-twisted the lid back on. And it dawned on me….I have no idea when he learned this. I recalled some time in the distant past where we showed him how to do this in passing. In passing. Now, he’s been doing this, apparently for some time. I didn’t notice.
What I did notice was the distinct difference in what I pay attention to. I didn’t notice with him, but did with J. I noticed the difference between what comes easy to one and is all but impossible for another. I recalled the days when J, in OT, would desperately try to remove a container’s lid. It was difficult. Almost impossible. To this day, I’m not certain he can accomplish this. Certainly not without a great deal of help.
In this very moment of normalcy of our home, I had yet another reminder of just how effected all of J’s systems are. How his cerebral palsy makes this task so incredibly challenging. How all his other ‘diagnosis’ makes him not comprehend why it would even be important to try. I realize, in this moment, just how far he’s come, and how far we still have to go.
Have you had moments like these?
