Perfectly Imperfect

I love reading other parent blogs, especially those that are well written and clever. I admire sardonic wit (well, any wit, actually) and sarcasm. And I especially love reading about other families' humorous anecdotes. But what I'm growing weary of is the wealth of bloggers that seem to lead charmingly perfect lives. Where are the whining kids, the meltdowns, the daily worry? Or are these not the topics that other parents want to read about?

My son is a hoot, to be sure, and he's begun to test out his own personal sense of humor. He knocks me out with his questions. "Mom, do McCain and Obama disagree?"  Ummm, ya think? And I swell with pride when I can almost see his brain growing when he masters a new task. But he's also a very normal six-year-old. He has trouble losing. He is miles away from grasping the difference between feeling an emotion and expressing it. He sometimes seems to be a year or two younger than his friends. And almost every day, we struggle to help him understand which social behaviors will endear him to others and which might distance him from his peers. Isn't anyone else going through this with their children? 

At a neighborhood bonfire and hot-dog roast last night, the host saw the stress on my and my husband's faces as we tried to coach our son through incident after incident. We're all in the same boat, she assured us. It was tremendously comforting to hear this from another mom, but later that night we realized we still have a million questions. Where are the blogs about helping your child develop resiliency? About other young boys who love to sing and dance and who draw quizzical looks when they express that love? About kids who are reading well above their grade level but who still seek comfort objects many attribute to younger children? 

I adore my son and I celebrate his strengths and his uniqueness every day. We encourage having your feelings in our house, and we try to teach tolerance above all else. All I can hope for is that our son will be met with the same level of tolerance that he feels for others. How do we explain to him how important it is to learn to get along with others, when we don't see that being reciprocated all that often? So many questions. Where's that owner's manual?