Today I dragged Casey to school. The same on Monday (it would have been yesterday as well, but they didn’t have school). If I let go of his hand or stopped pulling him… he’d stop. He refused to walk without being compelled to. He was “bored of walking to school.” I was also pushing Abby, who is teething and grumpy because she wakes up in the middle of the night to stop breathing, in a stroller that Carter and Peyton insist on holding on to. So basically I had to drag my whole family to school. It looked something like this:
So you could imagine that walking home after dropping 3/4 of them off is quite liberating. Some time to myself (sorta). Time to cry if I want to. Not so much because mornings sort of suck, but because I’m walking back to the destruction that is my house. Just kidding. I don’t cry. That would be lame and completely out of character. Plus, my house is always immaculate.
Today while walking home an older gentleman walked by with his dogs. We smiled and said hello, and as he headed on his way he glanced back at Abby (today she was facing me in her stroller so he couldn’t see her as he walked towards us) and stopped in his tracks. I watched him melt right there. He came back and got right close to her. He told her over and over again how beautiful she was. He kept saying,
“You’re so special! You’re so special! We love you!”
Then I melted. And there we were, two puddles.
Want to hear another fluffy story?
A few weeks back (and I haven’t written about this because I was trying to summon the courage to get a picture of this team with Casey. Turns out, I’m a coward) Casey spent most of his afternoons in the park trying to catch butterflies. Many of these days he did this wearing a full Iron Man costume. No joke. The track team from the high school that is just around the corner from us has been practicing at the same park because their field is all dug up. One day while we were there, Casey managed to catch a Monarch butterfly. The be all, end all, best butterfly there is. He was thrilled. So, he did what thrilled boys do, and took off towards the largest group of people he could find to show them his catch.
They were right in the middle of drills. I really didn’t want him to interrupt, so I went tearing off after him, Abby in arms, to stop him. But he was too fast. He went right up to the coach as she addressed the team to show her his butterfly. I could feel my face flushing with embarrassment. I continued to approach her, to apologize for Casey interrupting, when the most magnificent thing happened. The coach stopped what she was doing and looked at this butterfly. Then she told her whole team what he had done and they CHEERED! They all yelled and clapped and gathered around him to see his butterfly. They patted his back and told them what a good job he had done.
There I stood, still holding Abby like a football, out of breath from running to catch my son. I started to cry. It was one of the sweetest moments in my entire life.
And probably Casey’s. He spent the rest of the saying, “they LOVE me!”
See? Being a mom of special kids is tough. But it’s also better than you can even imagine.
Lexi Mag 
Freaking crying posts first thing in the morning….dang it.
Love the picture. That's how I feel when I go into any store with all three of my kids.I go in thinking this could be fun and come put fazzeled beyond belief and amazed that I still have all three of them.I love when people ooh and aah over our sweet Tily. It feels good to know that people know how special she really is. Having kids are a challenge but the reward so out weighs that.And Having one or in your case 2 with special needs brings blessing to your life you never thought were possible.
Word to Amy.
That was so so sweet Lexi! Those stories were both so special, but I loved Casey's story. It seriously brought tears to my eyes! You are lucky!
I could think of is Spongebob chasing jellyfish… Those are precious stories, Lex.
Peyton's eye is like that because you beat him!They DO love Casey – we all do! There are good people around. Yay!
Thanks for sharing.
Oh my goodness Lexi! Those stories are just adorable. Seriously touching. You have a great family. 🙂
I'd like to buy you a ginormous stroller that you could strap them all into. Or harnesses that all link to each other with a long tether…. You know, something to help you walk around the big city without drawing any undue attention to yourself.Those stories are awesome. I was actually holding my breath when I read about the older guy turning back to look (you never know what crazy people you might run into). I was SO relieved that he gushed about beautiful Abby. Bless him!Casey's butterfly story is so perfect. I love that coach and her team. SO DANG MUCH.
I don't know what to say, except this might have been my favorite post from you! And it was such an uplifting read after having some pretty rough mothering moments this evening, so thank you for that. 🙂
I loved these stories! Thanks for sharing. Oh, this is Emily's (and Bri, Katie,etc…) cousin Christy and a special education/inclusion teacher. The old man story reminds me of a toddler I would gush over and talk to everytime I saw him at school with his mom- they were dropping off older siblings. He was adorable and would probably be my student when he was in kindergarten (unfortunately I left that school to move) since he had Downs. He also wore the cutest blue glasses ever. I also wanted his mom (and him!!) to know that he is seen as truly special and wonderful. We spoke in Spanglish to eachother, but I knew she really loved the attention I gave him. It makes me sad that I didn't stay. I would have loved to have been one of his teachers.
Hooray for people who get it!!!
That made me cry too, mama.
Count me as another teary-eyed mom over here… this was so sweet! ❤ You already know your kids are awesome, as do the readers of your blog, but it's nice when strangers see the awesome, too. 🙂