Cheering for Rob

I find that sometimes the things I celebrate in my kids are very small. Things that occasionally others would wonder why I was even so darned excited about. Rob's background of chaos and trauma have led him to be a very quiet child, who works very hard at not drawing attention to himself. I think at some deep level does not trust adults. And when something goes awry (say a glass broken) his typical response is to stand there, frozen.

These issues have abated over time. But they are not gone. I don't know if they ever will be totally gone. But yesterday he spilled the milk he was pouring at supper. First he stared at K with that deer in the headlights look. She just raised her eyebrow at him and he got a cloth and cleaned it up. Totally had me celebrating when she told me last night.

And a few days ago when he got in trouble for something, I noticed later in the evening that he had made an obvious, kid level effort at tidying our kitchen island. It was clearly meant as an unspoken apology for the transgression and I was so thrilled to see him spontaneously find some way on his own to show remorse and try to make amends. I made sure he knew but also tried to keep my response a bit low key as if I praise too much it backfires. But I sure am happy!