So they say he has Tourette's…

My family has always been a strange flavor of hypochondriac. Because of the nature of my parent’s work, where others see "quite", they see "autism". Where others may see "moody" they see "schizophrenic." They are like a pair of walking DSM-IV's. And where I see Jude with a scratchy throat they apparently see the beginnings of lifelong nervous tics and social estrangement. Ahhh… it warms a mother’s heart to know that the grandparents think the kid is a freak. No, in all honesty 4 months ago Jude did developed this odd blinking obsession that comes and goes – we attributed it to our premature and thorough “winking lessons” – but now he has developed this nervous “throat clearing” that is anything but endearing. Actually it is so annoying it makes me want to cry.
But they say whether it’s Tourette’s or “transient tic disorder” the worst thing you can do is mention it to the child - so I am venting to cyberspace tonight. (Oh and the second worst thing you can do is put your kid through any kind of stress… but I am assuming that means any stress other than moving him from his home, his toys, his church, his friends, his grandparents, and his cousin to a developing country where he doesn’t speak the language and can’t drink the water… right?)
Anyway, I won’t go into my file of hypochondriac issues that my children have narrowly escaped (but suffice to say that I am more relieved than one should be that they both have 2 arms and are gender specific.) But just know that a dear friend of mine came over today and just said, “I always prayed over my children and any medicine they might be taking.” And seriously… it was like a novel idea to me. Huh? you mean I could pray instead of directing these elaborate mental melodramas about how my outcast child will cope with his sophomore year? That is far too practical... I’ll have to think about that.
In the meantime I have decided that if my parents have formed a correct (and I might add miraculously early) diagnosis… it really isn’t that big of a deal. Right? He’s gonna be made fun of. And well, he is gonna be made fun of anyway, because last week in his little Alphabet class the teacher laughed at him when he said thanksgiving was, “about God.” And well folks, there just ain’t nothing I can do about that situation either. Actually I could pray about that too, couldn’t I? But I think I’ll worry a little first… oh and review these photos to remind myself how ADORABLE the ticy little kid is.







P.S. I also have an untreatable condition… it is called GLUTTONY and the symptoms are usually latent for many years, appearing only in slowly increasing underwear sizes… but after 3 thanksgiving dinners and twice that many pieces of pie, every inch of my body is feeling the pain….