By Cathy Jameson           

Last week I shared that Ronan was getting a little bit sillier.  It’s been a treat to see him interact more with his siblings and to joke with them.  This week, the kids took the initiative with their brother.  Instead of encouraging Ronan to pretend to fall over like he was doing last week, they asked him to really fall but this time into their arms. 

Facing away from your partner, that type of fall is sometimes called a Trust Fall because you have to trust that the person behind you will catch you.  The siblings practiced that carefully together to show Ronan that they’ll always be there when he falls, but Ronan hasn’t caught on how to relax, drop into their arms, and rise up again without assistance yet.  With how much they’re practicing, he’ll get there.  I’m sure of it.  Until he does, I’ll continue to enjoy the carrying on and laughing that fills our house while the siblings help Ronan with all of the motor plan this activity entails.

Half-way through the second day’s attempts, I yelled out Nestea plunge! as one of Ronan’s little sisters stood in front of me and leaned back confidently into my arms.  Ronan laughed.  Do it again! she and his other sister asked.  They knew the game would make Ronan squeal again, and they wanted Ronan to try playing it with them again, too.  The more he sees them tackle a problem, they thought, the more confident he could become. 

I know a little bit about that myself. 

The more I learned to trust myself years ago, the better I became at advocating for my children.  Back when I took everything at face value, instead of trusting my instinct which was nagging me to no end, I put my faith in a human who did not have my best interest.  I thought she did.  I honestly thought my son’s doctor’s goal was to keep my child healthy.  His health was more compromised, though, the more I depended on that doctor.  After I decided to stop listening to and trusting her, drastic changes had to be made.  That's because drastic changes in my son's development had occurred the more vaccines she said he needed.  

When I finally clued in to what was causing him problems, I no longer found myself in a Trust Fall relationship.  It was more like a Trust Fail situation.  I learned a lot about myself during that time and from other unfortunate experiences that followed.  I also learned a lot about people, including whom to trust as well as whom I could not.  I was fortunately able to pick myself up during that time and could also create better environment where my son would have the chance to thrive, not flounder.

I’m meeting more moms now who have been able to avoid circumstances that I was unable to as a younger mom.  They've looked up loads more information than I ever thought to.  They've vocalized more and much earlier to their providers than ever I knew to.  I’m hearing that more couples are working together to preserve their parental rights, something that moms my generation seemed to take on solo.  When I hear from these couples, I’m learning that it isn’t the vaccine and the questionable ingredients that they’re worried about.  It’s the stripping of their rights that has them dismayed and speaking up.