Unexpected Blessings

My son has had multiple night terrors a night since Thanksgiving (minus a 5 day respit over Christmas). It has been exhausting. He screams horrible things and can not be consoled. He does not remember a lick of it come morning. To say that we are all a bit anxious at this point would be an understatement. We are trying some extreme things to get his sleep rhythm back and the last two nights have been better....only two terrors instead of 5 or 6. It is all stemming from anxiety..and I think the root of the anxiety is changing all of the time. Right now it seems to be centered on me and I am not sure why. When he is shouting at night he screams for them to not make him leave me, for me to not disappear. Its heartbreaking and strange all at the same time. This child has never even had a glimmer of separation anxiety with me in his entire existence. I have attempted to talk to him about it during the day and he has no idea what I am talking about.

This morning I decided to do a bit of sleuthing at school to see if he has been having any anxiety there that his teacher has noticed. He strives for perfection at school, which he does not need to do. I mean the kid is brilliant and I don't mean that in my kid is so smart kind of way. He just has the type of learning style that takes little effort (I wish I did;). I have also shared on here that he is my people pleaser... disappointing anyone is crushing to him....so much so that it is hardly an option for him. So when talking to his teacher she shared that sometimes she can tell that things are bothering him, but he is slow to share whats going on in his head. He has also been seriously flipping out over his reading goal for the year....if they read 5000 pages they get to have lunch with their principal. The kid read 600 pages over Christmas break, so the worry is kind of out there but oh its there. Elliot came over as I was talking to his teacher and she wrapped him in a hug and told him God had made him exactly as he intended and that he was special and loved. She went on to tell him that perfection need not be a goal and he needed to only worry about being himself. And finished with telling him how brilliant she thinks he is without even trying.

I hope Elliot was as blessed as I was in that moment. I nearly lost it. What a blessing to be in a school environment such as my children are. To have a teacher that loves them. To have a teacher that wants them to be who God intended them to be. To have a teacher that takes the time to recognize each of her students as individuals.

Ultimately I know God is in control with Elliot. I know that sleep deprived or not we will all get through this time. It is only that...a time. In the mean time if you could a bit for my little man I would so appreciate it. He could use the prayers right now.