A Letter to My “Typical” Son
Dear Eli,
You are such a blessing to our family. You came into this world as a teeny tiny miracle. You arrived 6 weeks early.
Those first few weeks were so hard. I ached to have you home. The house felt so incomplete without you there.
Since the day you came home, you became mommy’s baby boy.
You were a miracle in so many ways. Not only were you our little preemie but you also were our first child that was typical.
You made us so happy with every word and every social interaction. It was so beautiful watching you grow.
You introduced me to a “normal” parenting experience. I got to hear your first word.
You don’t even know how relieved we were when you talked and interacted with yes. Your daddy and I finally got to experience some of the joys of “typical” parenting.
It was a miracle in action.
As you’ve gotten older, you’ve continued to impress us.
You are so intelligent and creative. You are definitely the King of Legos with your creative, custom Lego designs. Things seem to come easy for you.
You read, write, talk (a lot), play, build, and experiment. Everything you do just amazes us and we love your passion.
Even when you are being mouthy and bratty, I still get excited because it is more evidence to me that autism hasn’t stole you away from me.
You are also an amazing little brother. In many ways, you have stepped up to be more like a big brother to your brothers.
You encourage your eight year old brother with autism to talk. It’s the sweetest thing when you talk to him like a speech therapist and get excited when you get him to say new words.
You’re also so sweet with your ten year old brother with autism.
You probably don’t realize that you are the only friend he has.
It is so cool that you’ve managed to break into your ten year old brother’s world. You adjust and play what he wants to play.
You build him Lego ships because you know he loves the Titanic. Watching and listening to you interact with your big brother makes me so happy.
At seven, I am sure you don’t realize that Jayden has no friends and that you will probably be one of the few people Jayden will ever get close to.
You are a vital and beautiful little person in our household. Many times you miss out on things because you live in an autism household.
You just continue to adjust and show compassion and love for your autistic brothers.
You rarely complain about missing out on things instead you just continue to be our miracle baby boy.
Love,
Your Mommy
Written by, Christina Herzog
Christina is a Jesus following momma to three sweet, busy boys and one beautiful, independent girl and a wife to a hardworking husband. Autism is a major part of her life since two of her boys were diagnosed. After giving up her teaching career, she has recently become a stay at home mom, blogger, and a freelance writer. Her goal is to show the world that autism is not the end of a happy life but the beginning of a new exciting adventure. Christina blogs at Autism X Two.
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