I still get a lump in my throat when I remember our assessment interview with the local early intervention program.

“What word would you say defines your son’s day?”

The whole office and the four therapists sitting in front of me blurred for a moment.

“Frustration” I croaked. “He is frustrated.”

They wanted to diagnose him with heavy words. They wanted to place him in a state run preschool for special needs. Schools that are underfunded and understaffed, filled with children that are not getting the attention they need and deserve.

He was frustrated. He was limited to only a few words.

In the mornings he would often dig his fingers into my shoulders and arms, desperate for some kind of pressure relief.

I made a decision.

A bold decision.

A terrifying decision.

The right decision for our family.

I ignored the grim expectations and moved forward with our EI therapist and “A Year of Playing Skillfully” a beautiful play-based curriculum.

We are three months into AYoPS.

Ask me what word defines his day?

Go ahead, ask me!!!

Joy.

The word is Joy.

Hallelujah! The word is JOY.

Joy & PLAY & more JOY. That is the focus this year as he gains his freedom from the frustration that ensnared him before.

Thankful does not seem like a big enough word. Thankfull? Thanksoaked? Thankwhelmed? One of those. It overflows.