What’s up with us these days? Here’s where it’s hard, where it’s been good, with a little bit of learning sprinkled in. Teeth: Can you pray for Leo’s teeth? And for how we handle teeth grinding? We moved up our dentist appointment for fear of damage to his teeth. Few things in Leo’s life have left me feeling more helpless. It is beyond infuriating to hear the grinding and be able to do nothing to stop it. If I start to think in terms of preventing it I assure you I will go crazy. We do think through, “What is he communicating? What does he need?” Teeth grinding is often a request—or need—for oral stimulation. One therapist suggested that maybe it’s Leo fidgeting. You know how you and I might tap a leg or twiddle thumbs? Well, his teeth are really the only two things that he can control bringing together. Does that make sense? He can bring them together and create stimulation. He can’t really do that in other ways. We also definitely notice teeth grinding when Leo is in pai...
Psalm 145:2 says, " Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever." (ESV). It feels weird to praise God. We don't usually talk like that in day-to-day life. And it feels like a brag, like "look at all that's good in my life." This is the other part for me. I don't wanna say, "Just hang on. It will get better," because it might not. Life might suck and just not get better. God doesn't owe us that. But it doesn't mean that he's not present. What I mean is this: God loves. God heals. God redeems. And God gives good gifts. God gives comfort (let's not make those last two the same thing, right?). God also allows horrid things to happen. And He doesn't owe us better lives. We did not earn it. We do not earn it. God loves and God is just. I don't know if I know the words to say more than that here. As in, I'm trying to describe something that human minds can't resolve. So, if you wanna talk about...
God gave me a sweet gift in parenting today. I think that lots of parents have experienced something like this in their own way. I also think that Leo being not neurotypical means I experienced this in a different way. I want to share this because I hope that other people--parents specifically--can relate and not feel alone. I also share this because I want to express a way that Leo's therapies can affect how I view things. So, I want to relate to people by feeling like this is a normal parenting thing, and I also want people to see how my parenting journey is different... (just to be clear, that doesn't mean that I have to get both of those things. just recognizing in myself that i am desiring both of those things) I've been anxious today for a variety of reasons. And--time for a personal moment here--recently God and I have been talking through my screentime habits and how I use watching a screen (tv shows or social media) to escape my anxious feelings. Screentime is how ...
Best news I have heard all day!!!! Love you guys!
ReplyDeleteHurray!!! Praise the Lord!
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