On Swine Flu to Friendships

We may have experienced a case of H1N1 (Swine) Flu at our house. For all the details, check my other blog.

On the day we sent Nathan back to school, he woke up with some mild coughing. I heard him cough and then he started crying. He was just laying in bed sobbing like he had either broken his arm or his heart. I went in to talk to him and he told me, "I was coughing and now I can't go to school. I just wanted to go to school today and see my friends and now I can't. I can't go if I cough."

It took me about ten minutes to calm him down (note increased coughing due to all the crying) and I helped get him dressed. I assured him that his cough wasn't contagious anymore since he'd been fever free for over 24 hours...but still cover your cough with your sleeve.

It was sweet that he was concerned and sweet that he wanted to go. But the part that made me cry once he was out the door was when he told me he wanted to see his friends. He's 7 years old and in all the years he's been in preschool and school, he has never once told me he had a friend. I didn't ask who his friends were--it was enough to warm my heart just to hear him say he needed to go see these wonderful children whom he considers friends.

On a final note, I just want to say how blessed we are at our school. I'm on forums and loops and I realize it's not always true that other children are kind and caring to our 2E kiddos. I am grateful and count as a blessing the fact that the kids at school do not tease Nathan. Maybe it's because his heart is so pure and he wants to please everyone so much that they all give him grace. The girls 'mother' him for me when I'm not there. They seem to enjoy helping him keep his desk cleaned up and figure out what to do with papers. The boys keep asking him to play with them--even if his stories don't always make sense to them and he might not get the nuances of the game they are playing. I've never heard (or heard of) anyone making fun of Nathan.

And that, my friends, is an additional peace of mind that money can't buy. I pray that children and adults everywhere learn from the example at our school. To see our 2E children for who they are--instead of for what their diagnosis is.