My man, D-man.

Today I’m one PROUD auntie! D-man has had it rough his whole life, and we, as his stepparents, stepgrandparents and stepauntie have done our best to love him through every little step of the way – all the babysteps forward, the leaps backward, the painful starting overs. We’ve triumphed with every success, and did our best to help him through the rough patches. Days like today remind us how very far we’ve come – no matter the length of the road still ahead.

This morning, I stayed after the pup’s swimming lesson (her triumph to come in next post *g*) to watch his lesson too. He’d asked me to stay, and he promised that he’d jump off the diving board on his very own if I was there to watch him. As the last two attempts involved the coaches tossing him in when he decided he couldn’t do it on his own, I knew this was a big step for him. And he wanted me to be there for it.

I would be the crazy Auntie Voice encouraging him and cheering him on – as yes, he took that very big leap of faith all on his own today:

All the kids were tired and a bit grumpy today, and when we arrived back at Auntie Ladybug’s house so that I could pick up the dog, there was a minor meltdown, and I stepped in to deal with D-man. You know how it is – sometimes kids just listen better when it’s not the parents doing the talking too, but another trusted adult and I knew Ladybug was nearing the end of her rope.

A few minutes afterwards, we had a very good talk, he and I, with quiet words and understandings and explanations as we picked apart what happened and how it could have been handled better. He decided to clean up his room a bit before heading outside, and I went back out to talk to his mama after getting a big hug from a teary-eyed boy.

I didn’t ask him to apologize to his mom for his part in the confrontation. I didn’t ask him to talk to her at all about what we’d discussed – we’d handled it, cleared the air, and it was done with as far as I was concerned. But my man D-man, after taking about five minutes to himself, came out ON HIS OWN and apologized to his mama for the melt down and his part in it. The apology was all his doing, 100%, and so today, we celebrate this babystep for what it is – a very big deal. I could not be prouder for him accepting the responsibility and taking the steps to repair the situation on his own.

Slow and steady wins the race, Mama Ladybug. He’ll get there, as long as we keep holding his hand through every leap of faith he takes.

Tags: d-man