Lessons from a child

Three days after the good news from the Neurosurgery appointment, Ari got food stuck in his esophagus. We were at a friend's house with a few other families and the kids were sitting at a table together, eating and talking.

A few minutes after they sat down, I looked over and saw the dreadful  telltale body language.  "Ari, Do you have food stuck?" I asked, walking over to him.  I hate the way I sound asking this-  I almost sing it to him, the way a mother would talk to a toddler.  He lied to me and said no, but I knew the truth.

I followed him to the front yard, away from the crowd.  He gagged and retched, attempting to work the food out on his own, the effort rocking his entire little body.  Encouraging him to continue trying, he found a way to once again ground me with his words.
"I don't want to get the food out... it's too hard and it hurts." He said.  "I need to go to my hospital and they will put a needle in my arm and put me to sleep and Dr. B will get the food out in surgery.  Then we will go to a room and I will have a Popsicle.  Let's go right now so I can go home and get my DVDs first. Lots of them... cause I'm gonna spend the night there.  Just call my hospital, Mom."  I must have been shaking my head in disbelief because he added firmly, "Just do it, Mom." 
This child never ceases to amaze me.  I tried to reason with him, but he refused to try to get the food up anymore.  The longer it's stuck, the higher the aspiration risk... I was getting worried.  Eventually his friend came out and I told him he might not want to see Ari try to throw up.  "It's ok." He said, walking toward us. "Ari's one of my best friends and I want him to play baseball with me.  I'll help him so he can play."  And he did.  He encouraged Ari to drink, which "floods" the food and causes him to regurgitate it back up.  I'll admit it... it's hard to watch, but his friend stayed by his side, getting him more water and cheering him on the whole time until Ari was well enough to play.  At only 5 years old, he managed to teach me a lesson in compassion, friendship, and loyalty.  Larry joined the boys in the baseball game and played until they tired out as I joined my friends in the pool.

I was lost in thought, reflecting on a comment this little boy's father recently made to me about being an inspiration to his family for how we deal with all of the decisions and challenges in our lives.  I remember thinking he was putting me a pedestal I didn't deserve to be on.  Wouldn't most of us step up the same way Larry and I did if faced with a similar situation?  Yet, his five year old son chose to step up and be compassionate with genuine sincerity.  I was completely blown away at not just the child's actions, but the moral foundation laid by his parents.

And speaking of his parents... his fabulous mama invited me and the kids to join her for a 4 day trip to Orlando this week.  Of course I said yes!  Suzanne, me, and our combined total of 5 kids are heading out at 5 a.m. tomorrow and I am so excited!  Last minute plans are often the most fun.

And speaking of fun... I have to admit we've had a fabulous July so far.  I taught some of the neighborhood kids the art of cake decorating (ha!!), though they preferred to see who's cake had the most icing and Liv and Ari got to be in the new MattyB video for the song One Thing!  It was supposed to be just Liv, but Ari was having so much fun, they let him do it, too. Click HERE to watch the video.  I promise, they told her to look angry!  It's trending on YouTube right now and has had over 600K hits in the first 3 days.  His last video for Titanium is still getting a lot of hits as well.  Click  HERE to watch a behind the scenes Vblog about his inspiration for the song which includes Ari and Ryan Walker, the son of some of our college friends who has one of his mom's kidneys.
And finally, Liv turns 8 this week.  Her cheer gym, ATA, did a phenomenal job of throwing what she calls "the best party ever". Both Liv and Ari did some stunting with Coach Reed and Liv won the tumbling contest with a solid Round-off backtuck.

I make Liv any cake she wants for her birthday every year.  Pinterest really made me step it up this year.  I can't imagine what next year with bring!

I have one more picture to add, just because I find it hilalrious.  Ari loves to play in his room instead of going to sleep.  I went in to check on him last week and this is what I saw.  The hat he's wearing says COLLEGE.  I love the giant Cars slippers, too.