Another Chance

Yesterday was one of those days when I did NOT slow my pace to Joshua's, and ended up (literally) (well, practically) dragging him through Target on what should've been a fun trip.

It was after our lunch with Jim, and we headed to Target on a mission. Of course, we had barely pulled out of the Chick-Fil-A parking lot when Joshua said, "where are we going now?"

What he WANTS us to say is "home."

I said, "Target."

He mumbled, "okay."

And then proceeded to be a big grump all the way through Target. Seriously, I just took you out for lunch and now you're gonna have a bad attitude on me?

Side note: There used to be a business in our town that sold fan gear and sassy clothes for women. It was called "Unhinged Attitudes," but it was spelled "Unhinged AttiTUDZ." And, of course, my kids won't let anything go unnoticed, so they have used that phrase half-to-death, and when Joshua gets into a grumpy mood, they will say he has an unhinged attiTUD.

So all the way through Target, Holly and I can't seem to get Joshua out of his funk. And, secretly, when he gets like this, I watch him like a hawk to see if I can notice change in him...like if he's coming down with something. Because some things, like stomach virus-y things, hit him FAST...and you don't want to be at, say, Kroger...buying groceries...when it hits.

Trust me on this one.

The leader at his Therapeutic Recreation told Holly that Joshua didn't really participate on Thursday, which is unusual for him. It was "fitness" day, and they went to see Mr. Lee at the gym. Mr. Lee even put in some kick-boxing/karate type of moves in their routine, which would typically be right up Joshua's alley, but he barely did the moves. At one point, she said he had his hands stuffed into his pockets and barely moving.

Well, unless he's sick, I'm not having that.

Last semester, I signed Joshua up for 2 days instead of 3...just because it was more convenient FOR ME not to have to make the drive there and back all 3 days. But then there were days that he really wanted to go and he felt like he missed out...and so there were many weeks when I was checking on Monday to see if there would be a slot available on Wednesday...and most of the time there wasn't.

So this semester, I signed him up for 3 days...and Holly has been so gracious to pick him up after her nursing classes. That has freed me up to come home after I run my errands, instead of staying in town and trying to fill up 5 or 6 hours until time to pick him up.

So, sitting at breakfast the other morning, I asked him why he didn't participate on Thursday. His eyes shot up, "who told you?" Then he went through and gave me some random, lame excuses that I didn't buy...and then he said, "I guess I was just tired from going Tuesday and Wednesday." I said, "well, we can fix that problem...maybe you need to go back to Tuesdays and Thursdays only." And I was serious, because maybe it IS too much.

He sat there quietly for a long time. Finally he said, "can I get another chance?"

It was so cute. I said, "yes!" Because don't we all just want another chance when we mess up?

"And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love..." Romans 8:38