Glimmers of Happiness

OK. Raising Darin isn't all doom and gloom. There are glimmers of happiness. Like this weekend when I was having "mean Mommy" moments. I had just enough of double-don't-do-that duty and I just walked into the kitchen and had a good cry. Not only did Lizzy not do her normal reaction of wailing her own set of tears at being told not to do something, she came over and put a comforting hand on my knee. And then one of the blessings in my life, my little son Darin, came over and asked me, "What's the matter?" For him to recognize my pain was a glimmer of happiness.

And today I received another glimmer of happiness. The BYU Speech Therapy Clinic called today about possibly putting Darin in a trial therapy program. They are looking for high-functioning autism children for a 10-week study. He would go twice a week for 50 minutes - and it would be for free. The Director of the Clinic is running the trial and she is the one that called me about it.

They are getting ready for my little boy. They asked if there was anything he particularly likes and if there was anything that gets him upset they could avoid. He loves golf. He'll hit a whiffle ball around the house with a plastic bat just to play golf. He loves to play golf on the Wii. He loves Batman. He has a Batman shirt my mom gave him for Christmas that he loves to wear. He plays Batman Lego on the Nintendo DS. He loves getting dressed up as Batman (and occasionally as Superman). He only really gets upset when we need him to transition. He is a pretty easy-going kid. He loves Batman and golf. That's what I told them. I told them what makes my little boy happy - and having this opportunity for my little boy made me happy.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to surf the net a little more. I'm making plans for how I'm going to make my kids' birthdays special. I know it is still a few months away, but I'm a planner. And my kids are going to get special birthdays. Batman and golf for one, pink and princesses for the other.