Jason Michael - The Second Child

Let me introduce you to Child #2.....he came into this world as a bit of a surprise (11 months after his sister and I was half-way thru the pregnancy before I realized I wasn't losing that baby fat for a reason)! Jason was the perfect little guy - hardly made a peep, ate good, slept great - he slept so hard that I could vaccum under his crib while he was catching z's! At one point, I was convinced he was deaf so I slammed two pots together to see if he would wake up.....good news, he could hear (and boy could he cry when he was startled)!

Life with Jason has been a wild ride! By the time he was two, he was incredibly active....INCREDIBLY active! It took a lot to keep up with him, but boy was he the sweetest little thing! He was quite well known for his hugs and kisses! By the time he was three, I questioned whether his activity level was "normal"....his preschool teachers also questioned it! He had to touch EVERYTHING he saw, wouldn't sit still and would talk and talk and talk. By now I'm thinkin' he's definitely got to be ADD or ADHD....

Jason is a terribly smart kid....straight A's, scores in the 99th percentile on all standardized tests....the bad thing is that he is bored to tears in school, which equates to him becoming the class clown to keep things interesting. (Interesting for him, not so interesting for his teachers) Because of his willingness to keep the class laughing and his teachers on the verge of tears, we've been to too many "conferences" to mention, had too many arguments that have gone nowhere fast, and come up with "ideas" that never seem to work. The truth of the matter is that Jason is just Jason - he's a talker, a toucher, an exaggerator - but beyond all of that, he's Jason. He's no different now at age 11 than he was at age 3...still has that hyper energy that needs to be burned, still has that craving to be the center of attention, and still is the first one in line for a good night hug before bed.

Yes, he's medicated for the ADHD that I always knew he had, and it is painfully obvious if he forgets to take his meds....(have you ever heard someone talk 150 miles a minute about one topic and switch on a dime and start talking about something else just as fast without missing a beat?)...but deep down inside, no matter how much his disability drives me to the brink of no return, he's still that little boy with the hug that can melt a heart!

Jason is definitely ALL BOY. He loves living on the farm -and what ADHD kid wouldn't love a few acres to run free on? He has a dirtbike that he drives entirely too fast and is completely reckless on, he loves to ride our horses and "conquer" those that I refuse to get near out of fear, he enjoys playing football and golf and loves to learn new tidbits of information that he can quiz others on. He makes messes, he has legs full of bruises that mysteriously appear, he loves to drive his older sister crazy, and is the reason for 99% of my gray hair. But beyond all of this rough boy exterior, he's got a heart of gold. Jason will give anyone the shirt off his back, will spend all of his money on little gifts for his friends and family and will never intentionally hurt anyone. He has a very compassionate and empathetic heart - a rare find in kids these days, if you ask me.

The road to adulthood with Jason is going to be a winding and bumpy road. We'll probably need to take a few detours every now and then, and will probably get a little lost along the way, but I have confidence that this kid is gonna slide sideways across the finish line on two wheels, shouting, "WOW . . . What a ride!" And I guess my job as his mom is to buckle up, sit back, and enjoy the ride!