I was marveling today at how quickly Levi has shown me that he, in some small measure, trusts me. It really didn’t take him very long at all to feel comfortable sharing very personal things with me as I tried to help him learn how to care for himself and as we sought treatment for medical issues. I was overwhelmed today with the great responsibility that I have been given and how precious the gift of his trust is.
Levi had a corrective surgery on 7/26. He was born with some defects that needed to be corrected of a urological nature. In addition, as they did the surgery they encountered a couple of hernias that needed to be repaired. He was in a lot of pain on the day of surgery at the hospital as the anesthesia and initial pain meds wore off. Isn’t it awful watching our children be in pain? I can hardly stand it! You feel so powerless to help. The trip home was uncomfortable for him, but once he was ensconced at home with everyone waiting on him and making sure he was comfortable, he did very well.
Levi was pretty funny on that medication they give kids to help them relax. We got some good video of him in the pre-surgery room, but as is always the case, as soon as the camera was off he was even more hilarious! When the surgeon came out to tell us how the surgery had gone he was laughing and said that Levi was a sweet boy. He said that Levi sat up and grabbed his face with both hands and said, “I really like you” and planted a kiss on his cheek. The surgeon said it made his day. 🙂
I was so thankful that the day after surgery I was already having to caution him not to run. 🙂 Kids are so resilient. However, he can’t
Home with "Jet" who was still wearing his surgical mask. 🙂
run. He really needs to be careful so as not to tear any stitches or fall and injure himself at the surgery site. In fact, I was told his activity will need to be restricted for about a month. For a boy whose favorite activities are physical that is going to be HARD!
I was reminded of a line from Jane Austin’s “Persuasion” as I have been trying to keep him calm and quiet. It is Mrs. Musgrove speaking about her grandchildren and what she has to do to keep them from tearing her house apart. “….or that one can only keep in tolerable order by more cake than is good for them.”
That is how I am feeling about television/movies at the moment. He is watching more than is good for him! Certainly more than I like my kids to watch. However, it is the one activity where I can keep him quiet and I don’t have to tell him to be careful, don’t do that, or stop running! He is actually on the back patio right now having some kind of Kung Fu fight with his Sulu (Star Trek original series) action figure and the headless Ken doll. 🙂 Can you guess that he has watched Kung Fu Panda twice already since his surgery?
Levi and I had an interesting conversation last night at bedtime. We were discussing the fact that he was not listening to what he was being told. He always has a very hard time listening. Quite frankly, what he has a hard time with is self-control – keeping himself from doing what he desires and obeying what we have told him to do. I was trying to explain to him that parents teach their children to obey to help him, not to be mean. We have rules to protect him. He does not understand this concept in the least. At the orphanage it seemed like the caregivers had their hands full with the little ones and with some sick kids. I do not think that Levi had to answer to anyone very often. I think he pretty much did what he wanted. Once when we were doing a phonics workbook and I was again trying to get his attention I asked him if he was in trouble a lot in school in India. He replied, “Yes. I got a lot of spankings.” Somehow, I am not surprised.
Kalindi is off to camp on Sunday. She is so excited she can hardly stand it! She had such a good time last year. She made it sound so much fun that Kira is wanting to go next year.
I had some strange homemaker thing come over me (or else I was longing for summer while we were having our wintry spring!) and I ordered berries (strawberries, raspberries, marionberries and blueberries!) from a local Rotary club. Yes, I went a little crazy. It sounded much more doable before I saw how many I got with each delivery. I have bags of these berries overflowing in my freezer along with a double batch of strawberry freezer jam, and a marionberry/raspberry freezer jam double batch. Kevin is hoping he gets some berry pies out of this bounty. I am sure I will do that for him. Oh, that reminds me! I have a giant bucket of blueberries waiting for me to bag! I better be off to do that.
~Lori
Goodbye Ordinary 