Introducing my little Superheroes!

Thought I should introduce you all to my two little superheroes. In my eyes they really are superheroes. They struggle on a daily basis with things that the rest of us take for granted, but they just keep going without complaining, okay with minimal complaining, and get on with doing whatever they are doing.

Miss O is my calm child, happy to sit and just chill out. Miss O is 7 going on 17, actually she is obsessed with being 17 – “Mum when I’m 17 will you teach me how to drive?” “Mum I’m 17 will you teach me how to cook?” “Mum when I’m 17 can I get a job?” “Mum when I’m 17” is something that we hear on a regular basis.

Miss O is caring, she just adores babies, toddlers and her little brother. She is the child that always wants to help out with jobs around the house - she’s worked out the pocket money deal. She is friendly and never has a mean word to say about anyone, she thinks stupid and idiot are swear words and will even substitute them for other words when reading a book or just flat out refuse to say them.

Miss O loves Monster High, teddy bears, Zelfs, Shopkins - whoever introduced her to shopkins, we need to have a chat. She loves to read, loves science and maths. She astounds us on a daily basis with her knowledge of random facts – “where did you learn that?” “Oh I read it in a book in the library at school.” Miss O loves to learn both from teachers and by herself – when she was in Kindy, she told me in the car on the way home “I can count in 3’s” and then promptly repeated the 3 times table. When I asked where she learnt it, she replied “oh, no where, I learned it myself.”

I asked Miss O, if you were a superhero what power would you really want? Miss O’s answer was “I’d want to be like Raven from Teen Titans Go, because Raven loves reading like I do and she’s really good at magic (insert the words “Azarath Metrion Zinthos!” raising your voice level as you speak and use a lot of expression) and I love magic and she can fly, I’d love to be able to fly…….”

Did I mention that Miss O loves to talk, she talks in her sleep, she’ll talk when she’s sick and has no voice. On a car trip once, we tried playing the silent game as we were trying to get Master L to sleep - “let’s try to not talk and see who can last the longest.” Didn’t last long, I think the longest time Miss O lasted was all of 20 seconds! She started talking at the age of 10 months – her first words were Dad, Mum, s**t and bulls**t – don’t ask, that’s another story but kudos to Miss O, she always said them in context!

Miss O struggles with anxiety, she loves to group things – which makes life interesting and noisy as her little brother lines things up. It is a constant battle as Miss O will group her toys together and then Master L comes in and rearranges everything in lines which then ensures that a meltdown will occur. Everything has a place in her room. She loves routines. Miss O is just now starting to struggle socially, she tells us that she doesn’t understand how some of the girls at school speak or act, “why do they chase boys Mum?” She is very literal, her swimming teachers learnt very quickly that they need to give her step by step instructions because if you tell Miss O to swim for 10 meters, she will try to swim for 10 meters without taking a breath. Miss O likes planning things, days off, weekends, holidays, birthdays, everything has a plan written out!

Miss O is very independent but she still needs those middle of the night cuddles, which we truly love. I keep telling her that she needs to stop growing up, I need her to be my 7 year old little girl, please don’t be in a hurry to grow up baby girl.

Master L is my wild child. Master L is 4 and is a crazy, funny, constantly on the go, sometimes cuddly, usually noisy, will try anything, has no fear type of kid. Master L cannot sit still, period.

He has no fear and will take anything on. He’s the one that will climb to the top of the tallest tree, but then might not be able to get down. Master L is fast, really fast – the school faction that scores him will be very happy when he is old enough to compete at the school faction carnival. He loves to jump, bounce, climb, run, spin, basically anything that involves movement. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with his gross motor skills! Master L is happiest when he’s outside, running around or bouncing on the trampoline or playing superheroes or playing in the veggie patch.

Master L doesn’t feel the cold or the heat – he’s happy to run around in a pair of jocks and that’s it, in the middle of winter. He has more superhero costumes than any other child I know and will wear every costume in a full day if we let him.

Master L loves babies and children smaller than him. He loves the babies at his child care centre and just seems to know that he has to be gentle around them. Once Master L is comfortable around you, he will crawl all over you, play with your hair and just want to be around you all the time.

Master L loves animals. He and our dog seem to have an understanding, she lets him get away with things that the rest of us don’t. He can take food from her mouth, lie on her back, pull her ears and she just lets him. Their relationship is wonderful to watch, she knows when he is having a rough day and just by being near him, Master L calms. Quite often they can be found curled up in her kennel having quiet time. Master L has always loved animals, he loves the zoo and is fascinated by elephants. He doesn’t often show it, but he can be a very affectionate cuddly boy.

Master L is eager to learn and to please us, his therapists, his teachers, his swimming coaches, basically anyone who is helping him to learn new skills. The two things he wants to learn to do this year is 1. Write his name; and 2. Learn to read. His number 1 goal is getting there but his number 2 goal will take a little longer.

Master L is obsessed with superheroes – everything has to be about superheroes. Toys, clothes, shoes, bedding, school bag, games, drink bottles, you name it, it has to have a superhero on it. Ask him anything about superheroes and if he’s in a talkative mood, he can tell you everything about superheroes. His room is a who’s who of superheroes. When I asked Master L what superhero he’d like to be, he answered “all of the them.” Master L isn’t a big talker!

Master L loves Katy Perry and Pink! As soon as we get in the car “you play Katy Perry please?”

Master L was my different child, from birth he was a different baby from the other babies at playgroup and now we know why. He has no concept of danger – the first time we took him swimming, he ran off and jumped into the deep end of the pool, promptly sunk to the bottom and then wanted to do it again when we fished him out. Master L is very literal, he has a lot of sensory issues which we are managing though his therapy, he has many stims depending on what mood he is in. He sleeps when he needs it, not when we need him too. Sleep is over rated isn’t it? Master L is very routine based, to the point that a lot of his routines are now rituals.

His pain threshold is just insane, he puts up with things that others would need a few days in bed for. He’s going to be the kid who will break a bone and unless it is sticking out through the skin, we won’t know, he never complains. Even when he knocked two teeth out on our trampoline and needed emergency dental surgery, he didn’t complain! Before our local hospital closed and relocated, he had a favourite nurse in A and E, Krill, but with the name Krill, how can you not become the favourite!

We were initially told all the things that he couldn’t do, but know we’re just amazed and proud of all the things that he can do. I know that my little wild child can achieve anything he sets his mind too and I can’t wait to see what he achieves.