If He Doesn't Care, Then Why Do I?

  It's a gorgeous spring day here in Northeastern Pa. I stand in my kitchen, in front of the window, preparing
baked potatoes for dinner. I gaze out of the window in a bit of a daze. The time change is still wreaking havoc
on mine and Liam's sleep schedule.

  I see all the neighborhood kid outside playing. Smiling. Yelling. Laughing. Playing together and having a
blast. My heart sinks. My son isn't outside having fun. He hasn't been asked to take part in the games being
played. He sits in the other room, on his computer. Googling and reading about edible and non edible
plants.

  I feel my eyes begin to swell with tears, and I move my work further down the counter. This way, I can't stare
out  the window. In that moment, rational thought takes hold. Liam is happy. He is doing something he likes, and
he's having fun. He's also learning, and it's not forced learning. 

                                So why am I so sad?

  I enjoy time to myself. I would much rather be alone, with a good book or creating something, than to be outside
with a bunch of people, wondering when I should speak, or fearing I may cut someone off unintentionally. I think
that sometimes, as parents, we see what all the other kids are doing, and we long for our children to be taking
part in that too. That doesn't always make them happy.

  Yes, there are times when Liam longs to be included, and that is truly heart breaking. But in moments like these,
when he is perfectly happy being himself, and doing his own thing, why do I long for him to be included, where he
doesn't care to be?

  Sometimes I think that we need to step back. We need to assess the situation, and we need to think.
Is our child happy? Does he/she care that they are alone? Why do I care? If my child doesn't care, then neither
should I.

  So I asked him if he wanted to go outside and play. His answer? "No mama! I'm learning about plants here!"

  Matter of fact, just yesterday as we came into the neighborhood on our way home from town, there were kids playing outside. Liam commented nonchalantly, "Now that all these kids don't like me, or are mad at me, they don't ask me to play. But that's okay. I don't have to worry about anybody bein' mean to me."


  From the mouths of babes folks. Sometimes, the best advice comes from the mouths of babes.