Yellow

The song “Yellow” by Coldplay came on the radio and the bright blue eyes sitting in the backseat of my car immediatly lit up followed by an excited gasp of “make very louder mummy!!”
His favourite colour was now a song. Jaiden’s life was complete.

The smallest things that bring a child such incredible joy – spotting new baby fish in the fish tank emergeing from their eggs, twisting a balloon into the shape of a poodle, spinning joyfully around and around in circles and lying on the grass watching the clouds float slowly past.
Its these ‘little things’ that we take so for granted that actually define who we are as people and help us to learn and live in our own worlds.
Watching my son take so much joy from hearing this song made me think for a while.
He talks a lot and understands a little, feels emotion to the highest degree, holds his hands high and hums a little more than most children his age. He is oh so very pure. Tells it like he feels it, enjoys the beauty in everyone and everything and doesn’t hold back a minute from running and frolicking in his own special world.
I think it’s something we all wish we could do – Just tell it like it is, stop and admire the beauty of the world around us and be whoever we want to be. As far back as I remember I was always trying to do stuff to impress someone else, to not be embarrassed about something and to ‘fit in’ to other peoples worlds. Having children has helped me understand the importance of individuality and letting children be themselves, while still guiding them in the right direction.
I often get saddened and scared when I think that the future for Jaiden might not be that of ‘typical’ children, that he might not be ‘successful’. But really are they his dreams or mine? And all any of us want for our kids is for them to be happy. Success should be defined by state of being not by which university someone attends or what their career is.
As long as he has love around him and people write songs about colours, I know Jaiden will be ok because he is very much loved and he will always be happy and secure of his place in his own world.

Now if you will excuse me I am going to clean up the wee that Jaiden just did on the floor of the play room and remind myself that all any of us can do is our best.