What shall we do with our drunken sailor?

Aug. 29, 2010

The road of life is never a straight one. There’s always twists, turns, hills and valleys. Up to now, we’ve worked with Nathan in his walker building his leg strength, training his brain how to get his feet underneath him and not getting his legs too far out in front of everything else. Now that we have confidence that Nathan can move his walker, the goal is for him to learn that this is how he can move around, be with others, chase, play and be part of the action.

Annette and I (in discussion with Abbi, and those in the CP clinic) have decided to work on a multi-faceted approach on moving forward with Nathan’s walking. When we’re outside staring down the long, narrow sidewalk we will continue to work on his distance, endurance and strength. Now, when we’re inside, especially in a little more open areas, we’ll unlock the front wheels and let Nathan work on steering and control.

Life can’t be too bad when the biggest topic for the week comes from laughing at the little struggles that all parents deal with. The more little things that can help us feel like “normal” parents, the better life also appears to be. The first environment we allowed him to roam, was at church, while Annette was working in the food pantry and I looked after Nathan walking around in the choir room.

With the front side of the walker padded with pipe insulation, he got his feet underneath him and was dumbfounded as the walker went almost completely sideways. The first look was almost one of shock, then fear of “oh-no, I broke the walker!” When I sat with a smile on my face, one quickly grew on his. Then came the look as if this was a game, that we were just being silly as he randomly moved around the room.

He would reach out and engage with whatever item he ran into, banging keys on the unplugged organ, reaching for the handles of the file cabinets, patting the posters on the chalkboard for the others who just started school this week. There was no method to his madness, going wherever his stumbling feet would lead him. When another little boy came in the room, the game completely changed. Wanting desperately to play with someone his own size, he tried to chase with all his skills. Frustration quickly set in as the ease he used to travel a straight line quickly became the hardest thing to ask. I went over and locked the wheels again and he was off back in the game.

This weekend, we went up to Annette’s Mom’s house who has a long paved driveway. Off we let him go, wheels unlocked, where ever his little legs would take him. Pitter-pat went his feet, clicking the walker along this-way-and-that, and inevitably he’d head off into the grass.

It was interesting to see his leg-drive as the grass would slow down the walker, but not the determination. Like a linebacker lunging for the tackling dummy, Nathan would dig his feet in, push through a step or two normally with the same type of grunt heard in football practices across the country this time of year. After the effort for 2-3 of those steps he’d stop, and wait to be led back to the blacktop. He could really get it moving, almost going faster than I would walk.

Nathan starts back to school this Tuesday and we hope that he continues to explore what he can do in the walker and where he can go, when he wants to. Annette and I are excited that he’ll be working with the same teacher and therapists as last year as they have proven so helpful and have great ideas for growth both physically and mentally.

For now, we’ll take the stumbling and staggering. We know that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but that’s never been the path put in front of us. As long as we keep moving forward, our eyes on the end goal, life is in the journey not how fast we get there.

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