A GREAT visit! Part II

(To protect the family’s privacy - I will use A for the mother, B for the father, and * for their son. ) After the bats, I had another shower and relaxed in the giant king sized bed at the hotel. One of my friends reached out to see how things were going - and I was grateful she did because it required me to try and articulate what I was feeling. The first point worth mentioning is - it WASN’T weird. It was just like visiting any family friend and catching up face to face. I am not a fan of babies and little kids - but they start getting neat at the toddler stage - and that is why we picked this time for the visit. I felt very much like I do when I interact with a nephew or niece - or any of my friends’ kids. The best way I can describe it is like having a mentality of “here is a small person I need to get to know.” So, I studied him and marveled in his mannerisms because he is a soul sharing the universe at the same time as me - rather than because I am biologically related to him. B mentioned that he sees a lot of my face when * makes certain expressions - but I didn’t see that. I didn’t see much physical resemblance to any of the boys - and instead just remarked on similarities that they had - as any parent could commiserate with another. My comments of how I remembered my own boys having the same interests or development milestones was just an effort to relate - from one parent to another. The thing that stands out the most is how absolutely LOVED * is. He is confident in the love of his family - and it translates into confidence in himself. He is willing to explore and attempt and is striving for independence - which are all indicators that he has a safe and loving base in his family. They are the platform that he will spring from - to launch himself into life - and he is remarkably loved and self-confident.