My Seussical Life for 2005 April 29

I overheard Atticus answering questions about his leg in the other room, where he was playing Nintendo with Mark's eleven and twelve year old friends.

"What did you do to your leg?" Another boy asked, "Did you break it?"

"I had surgery." he said, and then went on, "I was born with it. I kind-of crawled weird."

I'm not sure if Mark's friends understood what he was telling them. It is also hard to know what Atticus understands about his own body. I wonder sometimes how he feels about himself. Does he consider himself to be different from other children around him? Does he recognize that his left side is partially, mildly paralyzed? Does he see that as a limitation, or a challenge?

I want Atticus to grow up a self confident, happy child. I hope that our conversations help him to understand his uniqueness in a positive way. I sometimes want to cry about the whole thing, except that Atticus has so much sweetness and optimism.

He handles things better than his mother.