Last night, I met an answer to prayer. She is so passionate about what she does that her work doesn't actually seem to reflect itself as work, at least not to me. As cheesy as it sounds, her passion inspired me (or made me even more excited to start school some time soon).
This sounds a lot more serious than it really is. For awhile now, I've wanted to talk to someone about my firstborn, the one who is the topic of many blog posts :). From birth, she's been an interesting character. She came out screaming and pretty much hasn't stopped. If there's a loose thread on her clothing, she screams; if she has to get a haircut, she screams and shakes in terror; if her sock gets a drop of water on it, she'll scream about that. She doesn't exactly bounce back the way I've observed that other children her age do (and I actually have observed kids her age. One of my favorite classes in college.)
So with a lot of prayer and research, I found this amazing lady who is a quirky genius. I walked into her office and everything was polkadot, even her glasses. She had tea cup lamps and whimsical pens. She actually said that when she purchased the home she transformed into an office, she told the contractor that she wanted it to look like a hobbit lived there. No joke. I found a kindred spirit. I am just as weird, but she's got the mad skills I wish I had, that's for sure. I've never seen more books on child development and related topics. Her walls were covered with artwork from her patients. She's a grandma who looks like the fairy godmother on Cinderella and has 40 years of experience in her field. And, more importantly, she doesn't stop learning. I'm not ashamed to admit that I hope I'm that cool when I'm 60 something. She's serious, too, but not in the uptight kind of way; she's so serious that she used to lecture at Stanford.
Let me tell you, in that hour visit I had with her, I think I learned more than I did in all the courses I've ever taken on the topic combined. And there is so much more information out there. Neurological diets, for instance (these things aren't fads, people). Yes, there's a reason why there is a diet for Autism. Did you know that Ritalin synthetically does what certain chemicals in food can do, but without the crazy side effects? Did you know that people usually become alcoholics because their serotonin levels are low? Do you know about the brain-gut connection (I was familiar with it but not enough)? Have you ever considered that maybe children are diagnosed with more behavioral disorders today than ever before because they don't get enough Vitamin D, and Vitamin D deficiencies can lead to a host of other problems, including autoimmune disorders (which are also on the rise). I was flooded with information, this is just a taste of what was served up. What I liked most was that she actually provided literature written by respectable neurological psychiatrists; this isn't something you just hear about in a city like Austin ;).
I am hopeful. It turns out, my parenting skills aren't as awful as I thought they were, either! Apparently, I am doing some things right. The truth is, I don't really know what I'm doing. I believe that when we ask God for wisdom, one of the ways he speaks his wisdom to us is thru our instincts. There are some parenting approaches I'd never heard of but just applied because they felt right, and it turns out these are some of the approaches she suggested for my particular kid. This isn't my doing. This is what I like to call an obvious answer to prayer.
I am excited about applying some of these new techniques and learning more about them. I think the worst thing anyone can do as a parent is stagnate, or lose the passion that they had when they first met their bundle for the first time. Holding onto that passion requires having the intelligence to admit that you don't know as much as you think you do, and that maybe it's ok to ask for help.
And I'll end this with another note of thankfulness. I'm thankful for the obvious, my husband. Tonight, I'm thankful that he isn't just here, any dad can just stick around. But he is equally as interested in learning about what it takes to give our kids our best. Because I said I would include a song in every thankfulness post, I'll share one of my favorites of the year. The words are the reason why I like Hard to Tell by Young Galaxy. They don't make 'em like this anymore, and that's also how I feel about my husband :).
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