Conversations you don't hear in every house

I was helping Hannah practice walking with her forearm crutches tonight (which she asked to do) when she turned to me and said, "Mommy, I just REALLY want to walk without any adult's help. I have a walker and crutches and glasses, and it's taking SO LONG for me to learn how to do it on my own." And then she added, "And my belly hurts, too."

I'm so glad she added the belly hurting part because it made me realize that for Hannah, at least right now, she sees her limitations as a frustrating obstacle like a belly ache, and she doesn't attach all the other emotional baggage to it that we (the adults in her life) all do. I know this won't last forever but I'm glad that for now, this is where she's at with it.

It's so tempting to respond to these comments by saying, "Well, if you work hard enough, someday you WILL walk on your own without anyone's help" because this may not be true, and it won't be because she didn't work hard enough. So I try to tell her that we are working on getting her stronger and more independent using her walker and then maybe someday, using crutches. And I acknowledge that it stinks and is frustrating that she can't do it on her own right now.

I so admire her four year old approach to her disability, because from the outside it does not seem to cause her to act victimized, defeated or discouraged by her limits. It is simply the way it is for her. I want to try to be more like her.