Protecting

Protecting. 8 weeks into his life we already feel a need to protect little D from the stares of strangers, even though that's not yet a regular occurrence and he can't possibly understand that anyone is staring at him!  He spends a whole lot of his current life in a baby carrier, an Ergo Carrier - the greatest invention ever! Just as his siblings did before him, he promptly falls asleep the minute he's strapped in. It's marvelous. J and I realized, however, that it's only so long until D will be out of the Ergo infant insert and carried normally in the same carrier, but where a child's legs usually "come out," his won't. People will notice a lot more. People will probably stare a lot more. I'm all for curiosity and teaching others about loving people that are different and acceptance and all that...but sometimes you don't want it to be your kid that has to be the one to teach them. You don't want it to be your kid because you want them to be protected. You want them to be safe, and not stared at. I'm not ashamed of my little boy and wouldn't try to hide him in any way, let's make that VERY clear. God made him perfect, I think he's perfect and want everyone else to think he's perfect, too :).

A blog that has been such a blessing to me through the last few months is www.thislittlemiggy.com. I came across her through another blog and I was hooked. Her daughter has limb differences too, and she's very transparent in her feelings. I love this post and wanted to share it - its called "In the Hot Seat" - you should read it. My favorite part...the last little paragraph...where she talks about her experience in a restaurant with children staring at her daughter, known as Lamp:

"From almost the beginning, back when I was still pregnant with Lamp, I have felt and continue to feel the importance of handling these situations with kindness and respect.  I want to give people, especially children, the benefit of the doubt and model positive response behavior for my girls.  I truly feel that this idea is part of the bigger picture and purpose. 
But sometimes, I just want to punch little kids in the face and tell them to go away." 

http://www.thislittlemiggy.com/

Ah, yes, I love children so much. And yet I can see my "momma bear" coming out sometime in the future when Dillon begins to get those stares more regularly. Gonna be interesting, that.