Meet Baby Jones

Mel: “Do you think that Avery is bad?”

Me: “No, I’ve always held the belief that children are born good. I’ve never believed in the Roman Catholic concept of being born with Original Sin.”

Mel: “I’m not even talking about that. I mean, when Avery does something that annoys you, do you think he does it to get on your nerves?”

Me: “At this age, no.”

Mel: “Ok, ’cause I just don’t get how (insert female name) yells at her daughter for doing things she doesn’t mean to do. Promise me we’ll always treat Avery with patience and kindness. We have to do that.”

I then got to thinking: I mean, Melvin is right in theory. The practicing it part is difficult. I wish I could always have perfect mom moments with Avery, but the fact that I spend at least 75% more time taking care of him puts me at higher risk to be impatient and unkind at times.

As a matter of fact, I have yelled at Avery in frustration. I felt dumb afterwards because he didn’t do anything but laugh at me, but that’s because he doesn’t know any better. By the way, it doesn’t make me proud that I am already yelling at my poor boy this early in the game.

But I think that is a major part of why I yell at times. Because I think that he doesn’t know what it means.

Or does he?

I guess we won’t know until he’s old enough to write in his journal or tell his therapist that he hates me because I yelled at him when he was an infant.

Ok.

Fine.

No more yelling.

I promise.

“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” - Walter Winchell

I hope that Avery is lucky enough to find true friends when he grows up. Ones who will like and love him unconditionally. Ones who will see to it that he doesn’t drown when there’s deluge. Ones who will light a path when there’s darkness everywhere. Most importantly, ones who will work his shift when he has to call in to work sick.

A couple of weeks ago, I went through a real horrible week. I can’t really get into the specifics for public read (to protect others’ privacy) but in a nutshell, I was left to take care of home and every complicated thing associated with it by myself. Each day became worse than the day before as I got more tired physically and emotionally as the week progressed. I told a few of my closest friends and my mom what I had to face and not surprisingly, they came to my rescue.

My mom, as usual, came through like a champ. Although she was going through a very difficult time in her life at the time as well, she still came over to help me take care of Avery. I know for a fact that she would have much rather stayed in her house to work on her problem, but she never even thought twice about staying a few days with me to help out.

And then there’s Jackie. What can I say about my good, good friend Jackie? That girl called me up on the phone every single day that week to make sure I was staying afloat. I credit the emotional support she gave me as the single most important reason why I did not completely fall apart.

Problems in life are a given. This I want Avery to see. But the love of good friends is a gift. And this I want Avery to feel.