On patience - To Sow A Seed

I never aspired to be a special needs teacher. I wasn’t one of those girls in high school or college who felt a tug towards folks who need a little extra assistance. I am not detail oriented. I am not terribly organized. I’m really none of the things that you’d look for in a professional therapist or special ed teacher.

I’m a mom.

I’m a mom with a kid who learns differently.

Slowly.

In fits and starts.

And– hard truth now– sometimes not at all.

I’m a mom who looks at her son and sees what he needs and works like anything to get it for him.

I’m a mom who doubles as an OT, a speech therapist, a nutritionist, a psychologist, and an education specialist.

I’m a mom who reads and researches and attends conferences and classes. I’m a mom who has questions and looks for answers.

I’m a mom who isn’t afraid to try new things.

I’ve only been at this six years, but I can tell you my most valuable piece of advice. Maybe time will bear it out to be useless, but somehow, I doubt it.

My most valuable tool, my biggest weapon in this fight to help my son? It isn’t a curriculum or a method or a diet.

It’s love.

It’s the ability to do the same thing, over and over. It’s the willingness to say it again, slower. For the fifth time. Because he just might get it. It’s getting bone-weary tired, but keeping on. Because giving up is not an option. Neither is giving in.

It’s just doing what needs to be done. People ask how and why and I am more than a little surprised. It’s not, “How can you?” It’s “How can I not?” People say I am very patient, to do this thing that I call life with Phin. I just shrug.