![\"\"](\"http:\/\/scrapkitchen.com\/SSDBlog\/ben1.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThis is Susan writing today…….I was very torn on what to write for my blog post today.\u00a0 I had intended on writing a post about photography tips\u2026but seeing how yesterday\u2019s post was about photography, I decided to change my topic.\u00a0 Today I am going to write a bit about resetting expectations and welcoming unexpected bliss in my life.\u00a0 8 years ago this July, I had my son, Benjamin.\u00a0 Some of you already know that Ben had a difficult start in life.\u00a0 At 26 weeks, I suddenly developed severe pre-eclampsia and Ben was delivered at 1 lb 12 ounces.\u00a0 I can still remember the shock and horror I was in when I first saw him.\u00a0 He was so tiny and fragile and barely looked like a baby.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Those first 3 months in the NICU were very difficult.\u00a0 The first three years of his life were even harder.\u00a0 I slowly watched all my plans and dreams for my first child slip away.\u00a0 I had told myself that my children would have the best, go to the best schools, play instruments and sports, be well read, well traveled and well rounded.\u00a0 Heck, my son was going to get into an ivy league school!\u00a0 What is that saying, \u201clife happens when you are busy making other plans\u201d?<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/scrapkitchen.com\/SSDBlog\/IMG_5471-1-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Over time it became obvious that Ben was developing much more slowly than the doctors expected.\u00a0 They expected him to be catching up when, in reality, he was actually slipping further behind.\u00a0 By three years of age, he barely had 10 words.\u00a0 He was seen by a plethora of specialists in Boston and we finally came to the realization that Ben may never be \u201ctypical\u201d.\u00a0 He may never catch up.\u00a0 That is when I began to mourn the child I thought I was \u201csupposed\u201d to have.\u00a0 Would he ever be able to communicate with us?\u00a0 Would he have friends?\u00a0 Would he graduate from high school?\u00a0 Could he ever hold a job?\u00a0 Will he ever get married\u2026have children of his own?\u00a0 When you are in the abyss, it is so hard to the sun shining outside.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/scrapkitchen.com\/SSDBlog\/IMG_5922-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
For the past (almost) 8 years we have watched Ben make amazing progress.\u00a0 We\u2019ve learned to love this child for who he is and not burden him with OUR expectations of what he should become or achieve.\u00a0 And I, personally, have reset my expectations.\u00a0 Now, all I want for my son is for him to be happy and healthy and lead a life filled with family, friends and love. My bliss is getting excited when he is able to strike up a conversation with a kid at the swimming pool, or tell us something that he has never been able to articulate before, or listening to him laugh and play with his sister\u2026.my bliss is hearing my son tell me he loves me, \u201cbecause you are cute mommy\u201d.\u00a0 Yes, I waited 5 long years to hear my son say he loves me.\u00a0 And now, every time I hear him say it, I am filled with joy.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/scrapkitchen.com\/SSDBlog\/IMG_7617.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Ben is now in the final days of Kindergarten.\u00a0 He has a group of 4 friends (all boys) that he \u201changs out with\u201d at school.\u00a0 He is into superheroes, computers, sharks, the Space Shuttle, airplanes, and his little sister.\u00a0 Most days, he says his dream is just to work with daddy\u2026.right next to him\u2026.on his own laptop.\u00a0 Nothing more\u2026nothing less.\u00a0 And that would be just fine by us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is Susan writing today…….I was very torn on what to write for my blog post today.\u00a0 I had intended on writing a post about photography tips\u2026but seeing how yesterday\u2019s post was about photography, I decided to change my topic.\u00a0 Today I am going to write a bit about resetting expectations and welcoming unexpected bliss […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":156,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[129],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7272"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/156"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7272"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10320,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7272\/revisions\/10320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sweetshoppedesigns.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}