We have one last day of summer over here today.  I think, if we make it through the next few hours, we will have had our first drama free summer in three years.  The last time we had a summer without horrible stuff happening , Ryan was moving from pre-k to kindergarten.  Now he is a young lad who comes up to my chin and is entering third grade. That makes me so sad that we had to live through the time of  health crisis after health crisis and my Dad’s death.  We missed so much living but I want to look at the positive.

Neither kid was in the hospital or the emergency room this summer.  That for us is huge.  We had so many crazy unbelievable  incidents in past summers.  If I wrote about them here condensed it would sound like more drama that a soap opera.  Yes.  We made it though the summer with one ear infection and only one doctors visit.  How achingly normal! Yeah we had OT, PT, and behavioral therapy but it was great.  Ryan reached all his goals in all of his therapies.  For that I am super proud. Aaron had to see a nutritionist but even that is a tool to help with the issues not really a doctor visit in my eyes.

Ryan discovered swim team was a TEAM.  I always want to remember the day Ryan turned to me and said, Mom swim team is a team and I am going to cheer for the team.  His attitude changed that day.   He wanted to swim fast for the team and win for the team and win he did.  Both boys had an incredible season.  We are really looking forward to winter swimming in October. I wound up joining the board of the summer swim team.  I will be the youngest most urban tattooed Mom ever to grace the board and I will kick butt at it. I think it will be a hoot and I will be able to volunteer time to the team without having to work at the meets.

I got to go to Blog Her 12 and I returned to a husband and kids who were happy and excited. They had a blast without me ALL of them. There are years past that would not had been the case and it was amazing to be able to have a little freedom in that way. More freedom for Mom is my new mantra.

Tonight Ryan at dinner was asking Aaron what it feels like when he gets a food he is allergic to.  Aaron said it  felt bad. He said his head buzzed (which is the lowered blood pressure) and his stomach gets really sick.  We talked about what might happen if Aaron ate a whole egg or drank a glass of milk.  This is huge.  He asked about Aaron’s being.  He asked about another person!  We then turned the table on Ryan and asked what it felt like to be him and he said it was very hard at times to do the right thing but he tried to work with his issues and not against them.

I think at the end of this summer I am incredibly grateful.  I have great kids who have issues but are not in crisis. I know more about advocating for them and gain more knowledge from the people on the internet daily.  I am hoping this fall brings us more of the same and more adventures for Mom who really deserves some fun projects and some time to be an adult. May school be positive this year and the adventures plentiful around here.