And perhaps I remember why

blogging was difficult for me. I spend days on end thinking of something witty and fun to post about, and absolutely nothing comes to me. So instead I think I will just make an effort to write at least 3 times every week, and whatever comes to me, comes. Sound good?

This morning was the first morning I had to send my boy to school all dudded up in his winter attire. For us this meant snowpants, coat, hat, mittens and boots. Now, if you know Caden at all you will know that he doesn't like what's not familiar to him. So the snowpants were an issue at first, and of course they go on first. He didn't like the feeling of them being over his shoulders and the zipper being zipped up. We got past that, and then came the coat. No problem there because we've been wearing that for months now. When I was shopping on Tuesday of last week I found a new hat and mittens for Caden as he's been wearing the "old ones" for the better part of 2+ years. Well guess what? Caden no like the new mittens and hat. He tore those mittens off with tears faster than I could get the next one on. So, we went back to the old ones, and then Caden was happy. Whew.

Twice this school year Caden has gotten on the school bus (actually a suburban with carseats) sobbing inconsolably. Both times were when he had a new pair of shoes on. And it's not that they hurt his feet, it's that they are not what's familiar. The final thing to be donned on his little frame? The snowboots. *deep internal sigh from mommy* I had to stand him up on the floor in order to get enough pressure down on his heel for them to slip on. This was not an easy task what with him being completely bundled up. And the sobbing commenced. I refrained. They were on, we were ready - and the bus was late. At least 5 minutes. So we stood in the front room and waited through the tears. But I will say that once he saw the bus, things did improve quite a bit, so thank God for that!

That is probably one of the most frustrating things about being Caden's mommy. Most of the time, I do understand what's upsetting him, which I am thankful for. However, there is just no reasoning with him. There's no explaining that he needs to wear boots so he can have fun at the playground once he gets to school. The understanding of the "why" does not come easily to him, and that is very, very difficult. I do pray for that to get better as he ages and I see glimpses of it getting better at times, but it's a hard thing to deal with.