Unbelievable! I celebrated my 45th birthday on Monday. Other than a few cricks and creaks here and there, I feel as young as I did when attending art school. The day was very chill with my son as our navigator through the highs seas. We did the normal morning routine of brushing our teeth, going potty, and putting our clothes on, but I let him choose where he wanted us to go. He immediately said “awigator at bear ha-woah.” The alligator at our local wildlife sanctuary, Bear Hollow, seems to be is current favorite, so we saddled up in the van and headed over there. Along with the awigator, we saw beautiful box turtles, snapping turtles, and a huge soft shell terrapin! Their resident black bears (Athena, Yonah, and DJ) were having a stellar day sunbathing and lounging in the Georgia sun.
As we butterflied around upon his stream of consciousness, I didn’t confront him. I just let him lead. It was amazing relief for me and empowering for him. Understanding that he has Big Emotions is crucial to us having fun as a team. As my dad once said, “We’re All In This Together”. There were a couple of hiccups here and there but I reminded myself that this little dude has his enormous world around him. The little dude loves music, so when the big emotions erupt and he needs to express his frustration physically I ask him if he wants to dance. This often works as it is a positive release for him. Plus its super cute and hilarious for me!
The day ended with some veggie sushi, an episode of Miami Vice, and a beautiful fluttering of our resident bats that forage in our front yard. More on that next week…
