Sweet Moments

Yesterday was a day which usually lives only in dreams.

As he does every morning, AJ flashed me the biggest grin in the history of grins when I opened the door to his bedroom.  This moment, each day, is by far my favorite moment of the day. I drove AJ to summer school enjoying the sunshine, the cool breeze, and my recent iTunes uploads.  After dropping him off, I ran to the store to purchase Jeremy some new duds for work.  I picked up a very happy boy from school and we came home for a snack.  Back in the car we went, with AJ's smile in full force.

We drove to the post office, where AJ charmed the hearts of every single person in the building. Our next stop was the grocery store, where he proved he is officially too big for the child seat.  He did well as I encouraged him to "hold on to the cart" as I was packing the groceries.  We stopped at his favorite Chinese place for his favorite fried rice, and came home to eat lunch with, you guessed it, Mr. Smiley.

He laid down for a nap while I packed more boxes and did homework.

After waking up from his nap, AJ was delighted to discover we were once again leaving.  As we walked up the gravel road to the horse arena, his little eyes lit up like diamonds and he squealed in delight.  "Horses! Horses!", I could feel him saying from his heart.  AJ enjoyed every second of his session and had his own giggle-fest when the horse trotted.  He left cool, calm, and collected.

When we arrived home, AJ fully cooperated in the second favorite part of my day.  He saw his Dad, and erupted with a huge squeal of excitment as he ran toward his Daddy.  It is, quite honestly, the sweetest moment I get to witness between my two boys.

Days like this fill me with positivity.  Hope. And a taste of the normal.  While technically, summer school and hippotherapy are educational and therapy....for once, it didn't feel that way.  I cannot express how refreshing it was.

Monday was our telephone hearing regarding our appeals for the denial of AJ's physical and speech therapy.  In preparation  for the hearing, I spoke with AJ's PT.  She listed all of the things we manage for AJ, and said, "You need to ask them when you get time to be AJ's Mom."  That sentence has been on my mind all week.  This is perhaps, the very reason, why Hard Moments are the way they are.  While I am AJ's Mom, I am all too often wearing multiple hats at the same time.  The Mom hat seems to be less worn than those that are seasonal.

Yesterday was a day full of sweet moments.  Moments where I felt like just a Mom.