It turns out that I have a 3rd child. He is the middle child, and he has not gotten much of my attention lately. My Matty. Matty has been the stable child, not battling kidney disease nor an eating disorder. He just likes to play sports with his friends and eat sugar. I teased Matty many, many times throughout the summer and said, "Don't you go down on me! I need you to be my healthy child!" I was trying to be funny, but I think that he internalized all that was going on with his siblings and held it all in.
Matty started middle school this fall, and it has been tough. He has been so stressed. Stressed about getting lost in the five-story building, stressed about homework, stressed about all of the different teachers and different classes, stressed about getting up at 6:30 every morning (which is a big change from the 8:00 wake-up call in elementary school). His migraines have been off the charts. Oddly, Matty has only one activity this fall. He is playing flag football, but there are no weekday practices. He only practices on Saturdays, one hour before the weekly flag football game. So basically, he comes home from school every day and has nothing to do. It has been a very strange phenomenon since he is usually the busiest child.
Some days when he comes home, he goes straight to his bedroom and sleeps due to his migraines. Some days, he rides his bike down to his friend Will's house. Some days, he'll sit at the kitchen island and work on homework. I've loved helping him with homework and I know that he appreciates it.
Matty did not try out for Select Basketball this year. I was surprised that he does not want to play anymore. He was one of the starters for the team last year, but he says he is not very good. I tried to have a heart-to-heart with him to understand what's really going on in his head, but I have not gotten much else out of him. Tommy and I respected his decision and did not push him about trying out. It is one less activity to coordinate, I suppose!
Yesterday, I asked Matty before school if we could go on a date last night. I wish I could have captured his excitement. It is rare for Matty to show unfiltered excitement for anything. So, after dinner (and the Yankees playoff game), we went to Frosty Barrel for ice cream. We were only gone an hour, but I LOVED my time with Matty. Our one-on-one moments are so special to me. He is such a great kid, and I want him to know how much I adore him. We talked about future date nights and what we could do... he wants to go mini-golfing next.
For now, I am soaking it all in. We had a great conversation at Frosty Barrel. He even let me hold his hand for a few minutes. We talked about school, teachers, friends and college scholarships. At one point, he looked at me and said, "Mom, do you think I can make it to MLB?" I love him so very much.
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