Don't Worry, Be Happy

So, I read Amalah's post today about how her son Noah got off the bus wearing a backpack after years of screaming refusal and it made me want to write about worry.

Worry. You've heard the old cliche about after having a child your heart is walking around detached from your body, and it's true. If you're reading this, and you have no children but beloved pets, you might be shaking your head and saying, well, I feel that way about Bruno and Felicia and Snuffy too, SO DON'T START PUTTING ON AIRS JUST BECAUSE SMALL HUMANS BELONG TO YOU, MISSY. And you know what? I'm throwing you a bone. (BWAHAHAHA). I felt the same way about my dogs, especially my two dogs who were special needs children. I worried about them and loved them just as much as my kids, but I managed to get over the worst of my grief and loss in four years after their death. Daddy's death took me two years (I had 20 years to prepare for it, as we expected it any day after the then new quadruple bypass surgery he had). I don't want to even write any speculations about how long it would take me...

In fact, our new daughter Callie-the-poodle is NOT special needs, and it's weird. It took me months to "bond" with her. I was so used to dealing with infirm, psychologically scarred dogs that a happy, healthy dog sort of freaked me out.

But anyway, I digress, as I am so often wont to do. I want to talk about worry, and the small creatures that make you worry.

Oh! And it was a total stranger who put Noah's backpack on. And THAT reminded me of a wonderful daycare person who used to be able to feed Madeleine baby food. Why she'd devour it at daycare like a cavebaby who just got fed after the big week long hunt. For us? Fuggettaboutit. I used to say with complete sincerity that I would prefer to change a virulent diaper than try to feed Madeleine baby food. The little booger would allow me to spoon it in her mouth and then slowly, ever-so-slowly, allow the food to oooooooze out of her mouth. Oh! It was maddening.

Now here is the thing that is interesting. Apparently the young lady had something called "oral aversion" which is common among young babies from China. They used to be bottle fed only in China and so many young Chinese babies would refuse to take anything solid in their mouths. So she had a Problem, and I didn't even know about it. So I didn't worry about it. And it went away. Poof!

And then I remember putting myself into a frenzy over private v. public school? I spent about 4,746 hours of my life fretting over that. She's now in public school and tearing the place up. If she does well this year, she will start HIGH SCHOOL CREDIT Algebra and English next year in the 7th grade. She will be 11 when school starts.

Oh, and let's not forget about...

THAT kid, who has spent most of her life being compared to her Sister The Genius Prodigy Harvard Bound, and that kid has never been complimented on anything but her stellar personality. She's coming home with straight As so far in 3rd grade, the first year that she has received grades, and reporting that she heard people saying that she is the smartest kid in the class. She was the only one in the class who got an "A" on some test she took last week. Is she glowing! I knew she needed to be at a different school from Big Sis but I did not expect any immediate payoff, which goes to show you that sometimes life does toss you a bone, and it's all good.

Worry. You can spend your life worrying. Or you can just sit back and enjoy life and your wonderful family. Hey, when you figure out how to do that, can you drop me a line?

I'm working on it.