At Least He Was Wearing Shoes!

Today I decided to venture out to Walmart with Bennett. I don't go there very often, but I'm in search of glass baby bottles to replace the ones we've been using that have recently been banned here in Canada. For those of you who know me, you'll know that I don't get out much - with my difficulty walking and balance issues, the big guy and I don't often go out unless we have help. But it was a beautiful day and the leg wasn't feeling too bad, so I decided to try it. I got Bennett dressed and even put shoes on him! (I have to explain this a bit)

We've started occupational therapy with Bennett recently. No, I'm not trying to get him a job. This therapist is working on improving his fine motor skills and will be the one to help with things like tying shoes, using utensils, etc. She's a very nice young woman and absolutely wonderful with Bennett. Sometimes, I wonder what she thinks of me though. During one of our first meetings our conversation went something like this:

OT: Can he pull his socks off by himself?

Me: Yes - he does it all the time.

OT: What about his shoes?

Me: Uh...no...uh...he doesn't wear shoes - he's not walking yet, so I haven't bothered with shoes.

OT: Uh..OK. What about brushing his hair. When you brush his hair, will he grab the brush and try to do it himself?

Me: (wondering what kid she was talking about - I mean look at his hair - does it look like I brush it!) Uh...no...uh...I have never really tried brushing his hair. (Jim reassured me later that this is not really weird - he says, his head hasn't seen a comb since the early 80's)

OT: Umm..ok. What about songs - does he like it when you sing songs like "Itsy Bitsy Spider" or "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and will he follow along with the hand movements?

Me: (really starting to feel like a neglectful mother) Umm...I have to be perfectly honest with you, I'm not much of a singer. However, (very excited here!) I have tried "Patty Cake" a few times!

Ot: Uh...Well, that's good. Hmmm...well what about the "ABC" song? Maybe you could try that one - do you know how that goes?

Me: (Feeling like a bit of an idiot and desperately wishing I had my university degree with me) Yeah - I could try that one - Don't wory I know how to sing that!

All this left me feeling like I was quite the pathetic mother. Not pathetic enough to actually brush his hair or make the effort to learn more songs. In self-defense, I have to say I have a horrible voice and out of love for my son, there is only so much I can subject the kid too - after all he already has cerebral palsy - the last thing he needs is to listen to me sing! However, I did feel guilty enough to buy him some shoes.

So, today when we left, Bennett's hair was fixed to get rid of the bed head (I didn't use a brush - a wet facecloth seemed to work just fine) - and he was wearing shoes. I was quite impressed with myself - I felt like a normal mother walking around the store with Bennett in the cart, showing off his new haircut, free of bedhead, and his new Diego sandals. He had great fun looking around and flirting with a number of different ladies. No one even told me that he looked tired! (this is another post entirely!).

I was feeling quite proud of myself and patting myself on the back for being such a great mother until we got home and I went to take off his shoes. At this point I realized that I had put them on the wrong feet! Talk about crashing back down to earth. I'm just glad no one noticed, because as all mothers know, there are a lot of people out there that like to point out to you, everything you're doing wrong.

Well, that's my story and my confession. I never did find the glass bottles either - I guess they're sold out. So, on we go with the toxic plastic bottles - at least for one more day. Hey, at least he was WEARING shoes!