Military Special Needs Network
Proudly Supporting all Military Families with a Special Needs Dependent
Pastries for profanities
When I learned I was going to be a mom, I never imagined that I would take my son to get a donut the first time he cursed at someone, but that is exactly what happened.
I will take full responsibility for my son’s colorful words. My husband may be a sailor, but I am the one with the vocabulary of a pirate. When you mix that with spending far too much time in the car each week heading to and from therapies, you are bound to accidentally let a few choice words fly.
Let me side step for a minute. My son, Teagan, has been working with a speech therapist for over 2 years now. Every day we are seeing huge improvements, but he still has a long way to go. At home, we understand what he is saying most of the time, but strangers still have a very hard time.
While driving home from therapy, I can’t remember which one- they all tend to blur together now, a gentlemen in a fancy car pulled out right in front of me. I needed to swerve to avoid colliding with his car. I didn’t say a word.
At the next light, we were side by side with the same man and my son, in the clearest voice I have ever heard yelled “you are a jackass!” The man looked at me, then at Teagan, then back at me with this look of horror. There was no doubt this man understood every word my son had said.
Right there, at the stoplight we go through countless times each week, I broke down crying. They weren’t tears of sadness, but rather pure joy. Not only did my son contextualize something he had heard more times than I care to admit, but he was able to say it clear enough for a stranger to understand from a number of feet away.
To celebrate this milestone, we went and got a fresh donut. I won’t lie, it was the best damn donut I have had in some time.
Military Special Needs Network 