We dropped the ball for Nate this year and didn't plan a birthday party in May, it was instead at the end of June (a month late). I planned it with his kindergarten graduation party. The day was simply designed to help him feel special. he is sometimes lost in the shuffle. Evie is the baby, Grace is the first girl, Sam is special needs... and then there is Nate.
Nate can be hard to take for some. He comes across as a strong willed child that doesn't care to listen. In fact he is a very excitable, enthusiastic child who needs a little extra time to process. He is super sensitive and he can be very head strong. He has a wonderful personality once you get to know him. I really enjoy our days together. He can be such a ray of sunshine.
We invited his friends from last years HS co-op play group. I love these people. They see Nate as the wonderful boy he is, they enjoy his company, and they don't judge his behavior by the same standard other people often do. The see his drive to explore as a wonderful thing and it makes my heart happy. It makes me less stressed and helps to show me he isn't actually being naughty a lot of the time. Nate can totally be himself. There are only a handful of people outside of this group that don't judge Nate,(or me) and we adore spending days with them too!
The day started out drizzly but I figured the rain would stop. We got there (the local beach) and we set up. It down poured and we all huddled under the pop up cover.
The kids were wet and cold and not happy. It looked like it was going to be a short party and that made so sad for Nate.
We hurried up and did his cake so we could let people leave without being sad. Some of the kids just played in the big water puddle beside our table. I took a second to ask God to please help me to make sure Nate wasn't disappointed.
Suddenly the rain stopped and though the sun wasn't out the kids were less miserable. We decided to go check out the ocean waves.
There was a big piddle near the beach entrance and the kids were thrilled with it!. They played in the puddle, played on the beach, and jumped the waves. The Sun ended up coming out and it turned out to be the best party ever for Nate and was exactly what I had hoped for him.
PRAYERS ANSWERED
