Julie Helen: Thankfully the public health nurse had a sense of humour too!

THE life of a three-year-old is a fascinating thing to behold. Actually, he will by three and a half this week and that six months has made all the difference to him.

I’m thrilled to report we can boast “no more nappies”. He was last in his class to take the plunge, but will now happily shout his toileting activities from the rooftops to all who will listen.

In these warm days, he can fire on a t-shirt, shorts and sandals all by himself and he’s away for slate. I love watching his independence. Then, at the end of the day he generally crumbles into a ball of exhaustion from the height of going and he’ll happily fall into my arms for a hug and a sneaky suck of his thumb. 

Those snuggles are so precious and I soak them up as much as I can, knowing I am so lucky to be the safe place that is mommy.

When Ricky learns new things, I share in his joy and reflect that as a disabled person he has already passed me out in many of his physical abilities. He can step in and out of his shoes with ease for instance.

One evening, he saw me trying to cross my legs awkwardly so I could open the velcro strap to take off my shoe. He immediately jumped to my aid, saying, “Can I help you Mommy?” He even knew to gingerly remove the shoe from my toes because I hate anyone touching them, my toes are really sensitive and get hurt easily. I was bowled over by how he knew exactly how to help and that he was able to do it slowly.

Every night since, he has taken my shoes off while we have been reading stories before bed and he seems very proud of his helpfulness. I of course am bursting with pride but grateful too for the practical help with the shoes. I’ll probably pay for it tenfold with pocket money in years to come. I already look forward to those negotiations, he’s skilled at brokering a deal as it is!

We recently made a deal to head to McDonald’s after a visit to the Public Health Nurse for a developmental check. We hadn’t had one in a couple of years due to Covid and backlogs. I wasn’t nervous because we had to go to St Mary’s Health Campus, which is new and fully accessible and I’m really confident being out and about now because Ricky is old enough to understand what I tell him, and loves showing off how grown up he can be.

Although a little shy at the beginning, he made a great stab at all the tasks given to him. He showed how he is a chatterbox like his mom and a fantastic problem-solver like his dad. 

If he found something tricky, he said so, which meant he didn’t need to get flustered.

We talked about granny and Tim, who doesn’t like to be called grandad! When we were talking about the things he does with Tim, he told how they check the cows and grass and how the “f***king fence was open in the field”.

The cows had broken out a few days before at home and the expletives had been flying as frustrations ran high! All I could do was laugh, and thankfully the nurse had a sense of humour too! One thing is for sure, Ricky doesn’t miss a trick and we enjoyed our nuggets and chips together afterwards!