POTD - Week 21: Happiness

Happiness is...a warm sunny day, the sound of the ocean cascading into the shoreline, a child's deep belly laugh, an unexpected sweet surprise, a content child, birds twirping on a Sunday morning, a gorgeous peony in full bloom, enjoying the day with the people you love, helping out someone, a gooey chocolate fudge brownie, a lobster roll on the rocky beach, knowing life is good - sometimes a little difficult - but all in all, good. But mostly happiness is the incredible feeling a parent has when they see their child overcome challenges and accomplish things.

My oldest son has faced his share of challenges in his 7 short years (well, almost 8). He has struggled with his gross motor development and this has had a big impact on our family life. It is easy to assume that the act of running is instinctual, but for him it wasn't. And as he got into grade school the fact that playtime and sports didn't come easily to him was very difficult on his self esteem. Deep inside he still wanted to join in the fun and play the games, but he was sad and embarrassed that he couldn't keep up with the other children. He felt defeated before the game even began. To hear my 5 year old cry "I'm not good. I'll never be good. I'm embarrassed around the kids" is just absolutely devastating. As a parent, to hear the things children say to other kids and see your child in emotional pain just breaks your heart.

He had weekly physical therapy sessions for almost 2 years to strengthen his muscles, improve his flexibility and essentially create a "spring" in his step so he could develop some sort of a running stride. Late last fall was the end of the physical therapy even though he still wasn't able to run. He just seemed to reach the limit of what the PT was going to offer at that point in time. So we let it be.

This past weekend, I got my first chance to see my son play baseball. Oh! My! Goodness! He was RUNNING! Not stiff, not shuffling along, but actually running! He had a bounce in his step, a spring in his gait! He actually had air below his feet! I don't know what changed, what happened with his development, but it doesn't matter. He was running and he was having fun. To see my son achieve something that has been so physically and emotionally challenging is the ultimate in happiness.