Sunday, June 26, 2011

It's Okay, We Get It

Today we acquired a Uromastyx lizard.  This is in addition to our two shih-tzus, hamster, and the parakeet.  We are becoming a zoo.  Or a jungle.  "Jungle" is a much more fitting word.

I invited a friend of mine and her son to come over and see the lizard, because it's not really that common of a pet.  Well, they came over and Logan went berserk.  I have no idea why.  He was hungry and tired, and he hadn't seen my friend's son in a few months. Perhaps he was overexcited at having a lot of people in the house in addition to new animals.  I don't know.  But he did everything he could to create a ruckus.  He punched and banged on every surface he could find, he screamed at the top of his lungs.  The noise became so loud and so interfering that I could barely hear my friend as she tried to tell me about something that had occurred earlier in the week.  When they left, I apologized and she said not to worry, that there was no need to say sorry.

Well, still, I fretted about it.  Lots of people, in an effort to be polite, insist that no apology is necessary when it really is.  I was so frustrated and so embarrassed by what had happened that I didn't know what to say or do.  I sent her a text apologizing again for all of the chaos and she called me.

She was insistent that no apology was needed.  She said it would be different if Logan were a child who knew better and was just acting that way just to act up, but that Logan was trying to communicate in the only way he knew how, and that he was probably overwhelmed.  She went on to say that I was doing everything I could think of for him, and that I didn't need to apologize for something like that.

Her kindness almost undid me.  I try to put on a good front, saying I don't care what people think and that this is Logan and this is how he is, and most of the time, I really mean it.  There's not a lot I can do to change things when he acts that way.  I am hoping that, as his pediatrician counseled us, that as he gets older these behaviors will lessen.  But to have someone say to me, "It's okay.  Please don't worry.  We get it."  is not something I hear that often, and to be perfectly honest, it almost brought me to tears.

It would be heaven to be able to have friends over and not worry about what affect it might have on someone's mood.  It would be a great relief to get through a meal without worrying about finishing it before time runs out and someone is ready to go.  But that's not where we're at, and I can only say that I am very, very thankful for friends like the one that came over to my house today, and I wish there were more like that in this world.

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