Rayna
First let me say I'm so glad you've joined this list. Your sense of humor s
delightful as well as insightful.I am the mom of a son who will soon be 6
and has spastic quad CP. He uses a manual WC to get around most of the time
and has just started using a walker that has lots of supports. Alex has had
a very rough medical history but is a very delightful child. Reading yours
and the other's post's on how the public reacts to you has re-enforced the
way I raise Alex. He is BTW the youngest of 7 which also comes into play on
how he views himself. All his sibs just think of him as one of the gang.
I've seen my share of those pity looks when we are out in public and choose
to ignore them. I have no need to "explain" Alex to strangers. I don't
explain my other kids so why should I explain Alex? I don't allow strangers
to buy him things etc in order for them to feel they did their good deed of
the day. Their misunderstanding that he has a horrible life is thier
problem and not his. He is not to be used as a bargaining chip on heavens
ledgers for strangers. He is whether he realizes it our not beginning to
speak up for himself. I work at Wal-Marts. I went to pick up my paycheck and
had Alex with me in his WC. Young kids tend to get interested in the
merchandise and hang back looking when mom wants to leave. That is what Alex
was doing. So like many parents of balky kids I walked ahead in hopes that
he would miss me and follow. I was about 200 ft in front of him but it
really made many of the adults nervous to see a kid in a WC with no one
hovering over him. One older lady kept walking back and forth trying to
figure out where his mom was. She finally stopped to speak to him. Then she
figured out he was with me and she came over and told me the short
conversation. She had asked him if he was lost. He said "no I know where I
am, My mom's lost". Obviously he is going to be just like the rest of my
stubborn kids. He was going to look over the shoe collection come he** or
high water and if mom wanted to wander away that was my problem and not his.
Looking forward to his future.
Joanne
