I Love You, Mom

“I love you, Mom.”

In this house, that has a lot of meanings.  It, of course, means the obvious, but it is also the catch all phrase for many other sentiments, including the one meant just now as my son is eating his dinner, “This is a good chicken.”

When we are out somewhere doing some activity, it means “I’m having fun.”

When I give him permission to do something, it means “Thank you.”

When a few minutes has passed and he’s calmed down from discipline, it means “I’m sorry.”

When he is in the middle of homework that he is able to do without help, it means “I’m glad you put me in a new school.”

Lately, I’ve picked up his habit.  After years of dreading emails and calls from school because they were always about not turning in homework or failing a test or talking to much or being defiant,  years of dreading that moment in the evening when he would vent all his frustrations on me,  years of judgments from others because we didn’t go to dinner after activities or attend parties or engage in other social activities, after years of sometimes just needing to sit down and cry, so much has changed and I find myself expressing my joy in the improvements in four little words, “I love you, Aiden.”

He is one amazing, strong-willed, tough little kid.  He’s had some obstacles in life and has never given up, never stopped fighting, never been any less than the most perfect imperfect child you could ever hope for.

The child who last year was just trying to get an F to a D is now trying his hardest to bring his math grade from a B to an A this quarter, because that would mean he had all A’s, all year.

The first time I received an email from a teacher this year, my heart dropped and I dreaded reading it, and when I realized it said that the teacher just wanted to tell me how much he enjoyed having my son in his class, I cried for 20 minutes.

While other parents may have been frustrated at the score of a baseball game this weekend, I was proud of how well my son was able to walk away from any mistakes and not only have fun at a party, but to spend the entire time with the other kids instead of coming to sit next to me.

Aiden, you’ve come a very long way.  I am so proud of you.  I love you, Aiden.

And that’s why they have wine, to celebrate the great things in life!