Today I have a guest post by Joyce from Spectrum of Blessings. She is a mom with a son diagnosed on the autism spectrum. Take a moment and check out her blog at http://spectrumofblessings.com/.
Most
parents take it for granted that their child runs when chased, but
that was not my reality. In fact, if I ran towards Luke chanting mischievously,
“I’m going to get you!” Luke would just stand there. He greatly enjoyed it when
I would lift him into the air and swing him around, but he was missing that a
big part of the fun was in the chase.
Each
day when his therapist would arrive, we would spend several minutes practicing.
One of us would pick him up and run with him in their arms, as his eyes danced
and watched excitedly at the other one of us running in pursuit. We would coach
him to yell “Go!” when he wanted us to run. Day after day for weeks this went
on.
Then
one evening, Luke put it all together. “GO!” he yelled at me and then took off
running, slowing down about half-way down the hallway to look over his shoulder
and make sure that I was running after him – and running after him I was!
Again, and again, and again for nearly a half-hour we were running through the
house shouting “Go! Go! Go!” and giggling with delight. I was beyond exhausted
long before the game was over, but I continued running with gusto and with
tears of joy rolling down my cheeks. My son wanted to play with me!
It
was at this moment that I found my mind turning to parents who have never had a
child that did not have the ability to play with them. To have been spared that
sorrow is a blessing to be sure, but it also makes it easier to pass up moments
like the one I just described. Perhaps there is a sink full of dishes, or a
deadline, or maybe it’s just the first time you have been able to sit down all
day. Any number of things can distract us from precious moments with our little
ones that once lost, can never be retrieved. As for me, I'll be running.
