Tonight I watched BW read a book to his younger sister.  My 6 year old, who couldn't speak a full sentence until he turned 5, kept his attention focused long enough to read a book- and to his sister, no less.  He generally has no tolerance for her presence, but for a couple of precious minutes, the boy read a whole book to his sister.  Proud mom? Heck yeah!

He has progressed so much in the past two years.  I have noticed recently though, that he still has the maturity of a 2-3 year old.  He throws tantrums countless times every day, and is getting so strong that I can barely hold him back when he tries to run, bolt, or throw himself down (or whatever other direction he decides).  His mood swings are so violent.  It's hard to take him anywhere because of the mood swings.

We went somewhere (public) today, and while standing just inside the door waiting for my husband to come in, a little girl and her family (whom we had never met) came in the door.  BW gave her a huge hug, and the girl complained the rest of the night about how 'weird' he is.  She kept asking me why he hugged her, why he was watching her play Angry Birds in the booth behind us, why he couldn't sit still and be quiet, why this and why that. 

I'm so tired of answering why when other kids think he's weird.  I'm just glad he doesn't understand yet that some people don't care for him because he's different.  He loves everyone he meets, and if he recognizes you, he calls you his friend and means it very seriously.  It's going to Break. My. Heart. the first time he realizes what it means when a kid calls him weird, or when someone says they don't want him around.  It breaks my heart now, who am I kidding?  The boy has no friends, and it makes me sad.  We don't get invited to things, except for events that the whole church body is invited to, and the occasional holiday with the extended family.  No one really makes any special adjustments for him though.  Events will be held at people's houses that he only sees once a year rather than at grandma's, where he knows the place, and knows his boundaries.  So when we decide that it'll be easier to stay home than to be on constant red alert, they say "see? This is why we just do it here, they never show up anyway." (along with other things relating to not needing to make occomodations)

But we still try.

Because if we don't, no one else will and he'll never get the hang of it.  We put up with the scoffs, the comments,  the stares and stress  because leaving in the middle wouldn't do him any good.  As stressful as it was on all four of us, I'm glad we stayed.  They brought out a pinata for all the kids to take a turn.  BW got to the line somewhere near spot number 5, and by the time it was his turn, about 20 kids had taken their turn and he was somehow last in line, squirming and stimming and moaning and crying out, me holding him from pushing in, being told to be polite and wait our turn by yours truly.  But by golly, when it was his turn he knocked the bumper off that pinata-mobile and soon enough they all were rushing for candy and mini Play Doh tubs.  BW was so proud.  None of the kids really cared who gave the final whack once the goodies started spilling out, but he was so proud.  He had a big open mouthed grin, raised eyebrows, and wide eyes for quite some time during the ride home, and talked about the one thing he will choose to remember about the outing:  "I break open candy for the kids!" 

Thank you Lord, for his innocence and ability to take the one good thing that happened tonight as his memory of the whole evening.  Thank you for making him so smart and amazing, even when others don't see it.  Please help me to stop crying about all the mean things of this world that he doesn't see or seem to notice.  Thank you for giving him that innocence that protects him from these things.