Lifa: The Real Deal

Today was 80% temper tantrums, 10% time outs (including the big people putting ourselves in time out!), 5% prep for dress up day at Southpoint Church and 5% a nature shakeout at Kirstenbosch.

I worry for Lifa on days like these. I think about his friends who hang out with kids their own age and whose families don't have to accommodate to nap times or special needs. I watch him skillfully bring smiles and steadiness to his brothers without a single complaint. He thinks ahead, comes behind and stands beside. He proactively helps me and quietly cleans up behind his brothers. He masterfully distracts Benjamin when he needs it and finds the perfect balance in challenging him on the sports field and letting him feel like a champion. His patience is unending. He is a full out hero. His brothers adore hm, and his parents have immeasurable respect for him.

Although I worry, I celebrate seeing the gold in him. Lifa shines more and more daily. I thank God I get to be his mom.

The moral of this story is: Lifa's future wife and children have A LOT to thank me for. (I tell him that often.) He's mastered playfulness, protectiveness, and proactiveness. He is loving, kind and extraordinarily respectful. He is a diamond in the rough. He will always put too much tomato sauce on his dinner before he even tastes it, but this boy is gold.