The "I Told You So!!!" Dance

Isn't this the cutest Little Dude Ever!?
Honestly, I always knew that he was sweet and kind hearted and creative and funny and charming and so many good things. With Mr. Sahm for a daddy, how could he not be? Yet, there we were, lost in frustration and anger and fear because of his seriously bad behavior. It was so scary. I never knew when he would blow up and start hitting me or his sister. I knew I would never abandon him, but the thought of dealing with him every day until he turned 18 made me not want to live that long. It was really that bad.

We had a bunch of theories and ideas of what might be going wrong with the Little Dude. Mr. Sahm had a very far-out, crazy idea that Little Dude had sleep apnea. He based this idea on the fact that poor Little Dude had 8 cases of strep and 6 ear infections in one school year and the ENT doctor told us that the tonsils were unusually large and obviously needed to come out, along with the adenoids and the addition of some tubes in his ears. Mr. Sahm figured that if the tonsils were unusually large, then the adenoids probably were too, and that was causing sleep apnea, thus causing poor attention and bad behavior based on lack of good, sound sleep. Can you say wishful thinking? I knew it had to be ADD or ODD or ADHD or PMS (...oh wait, that last one is me...)

On July 29th, Little Dude had surgery. It was a rough recovery, but he got past the pain and we finally had to cut off the ice cream and make him eat some real food.

In the last month, we have seen a miraculous change in Little Dude's behavior. His anger is rare, and when it does pop up, he has so much more self-control than I have ever seen him have. He isn't fighting with his sister, but they are playing together, sometimes for a couple hours! There's no hitting, almost no yelling, and he is eager to be helpful and he really tries to be obedient. He is sweet to me and has been giving me so many hugs and kisses and snuggles.

Yesterday he got a note from his teacher about how excellent his behavior has been and how kind and helpful he is in class. When I read it, I cried tears of joy and Little Dude got ice cream after dinner. I always knew that he was sweet and kindhearted and helpful, and now other people get to see it too.

So, Mr. Sahm was right. He gets to say, "I told you so!" and he gets to make up an "I told you so!" dance, and dance it all around the house. And I think I'll join in, cause for me it is a dance of joy and deep gratitude.