eSpecially Ben

About a week ago, Ben’s occupational therapist taught Ben how to take his shirt off. Immediately after the session with the OT still present, Ben crawled into the kitchen and proceeded to show me how he can take off his own shirt. Very impressive! Last night, right before bedtime, Ben did his shirt trick again with a pajama top. Just took the darn thing off without any help. Needless to say he went to bed shirtless. This time Ryan got to appreciate our little Houdini. And then this morning, I shared the story with Logan, who appreciates when Ben learns a new skill, and he started chanting: Take It Off, Take It Off.  Well, at least Logan was showing support.

When Ben started school when he was two years old, my mom said, what I thought at the time was, the strangest thing. She said, “Make sure Ben always looks neat and is clean.” Like any daughter might, I thought she was crazy. Why of course Ben will be neat and clean, I would never let him out of the house any other way. Four years later, I still think about that comment. I make sure that Ben looks his best everyday – his hair is neat, clothes clean. There was a time when I gave Ben a bath every morning before school so his hair looked just right, but I gave that up after son #3 was born. And I realized it was a bit obsessive too. Now I keep his hair short and he gets a bath and a shampoo every night. Ben does have beautiful yet unruly hair. Our children with special needs may look and act differently, raise eyebrows and get stares. The last thing we want is for their hair to be a mess, clothes dirty or disheveled. I get what my mom was saying - Ben's different, but don't mak