Never Let the Obstacles Win

What a treat to have been able to watch the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, "Front of the Class" tonight on CBS. As mentioned in a previous post, I made every effort to nail my sons' bodies into their evening coffins. Alas, one of mine, in particular, is a vampire and refused to be nailed in the figurative coffin (and this is almost every night, not just nights when he knows that Mom intends to seclude herself downstairs to watch a movie on our lousy rabbit-ears TV, because the Dish won't allow access to such inspirational fare as CBS sometimes offers). (Int, Cardiogirl! Should I curse the Dish or Comcast?)

From the first ten minutes of the movie, I was already being moved to tears (am mentally seeing the scene which played-out back in high school when I watched West Side Story for the first time, and my sister came up from behind me to gloat over catching me crying). It was a touching, heart-warming, inspiring movie. My husband interrupted my tears to ask me if I would check in on the little boys at the first available commercial, since they were both clamouring for me.

I gave them a quick and hearty scolding. Told the baby to lie back down because I was NOT going to rock him. Answered MS that, "Yes, it is o.k. to get out of bed if you must go to the bathroom, but then you must head back to bed."

Alas, after the first half hour of the movie, I felt little eyes penetrating the back of my head. MS had gone #2. I didn't even want to miss a minute of the movie to go and wipe his sorry behind, so I told him to go wait on the downstairs potty until I could wipe him at the next commercial (now there's a tale that should have been made into a "Not-Me-Monday" post and aired on McMama's blog).

Instead of enforcing my boundaries, I gave in and let my MS stay up and cuddle with me and watch the movie. This required frequent explanations ("Mommy, why are you crying now?"), but I'm hoping one day he will also make a difference in someone's life because he learned early on that sometimes people are different and we shouldn't laugh at those who are different, but rather seek to help them and understand them, and maybe even, learn from them.

I certainly was reminded to never let the obstacles win. We all have them. They come in a myriad of forms, but if we let the obstacles win, then we and others around us, lose out on a lot of blessings and lessons.

If you didn't get a chance to watch the movie, I did notice that you can read the book. And, if you watched the movie, send me a comment (just to know you are out there and might actually be influenced by something I have written) and also go to leave a comment with Brad Cohen about his story. Here is his website.

Now, I'm just hoping that my little vampire doesn't decide to take this lesson to heart. May I not discover that he is determined to never let the obstacles win when it comes to his desire to achieve his dreams of staying up past his bedtime. Dear God, please give him the wisdom to understand that this lesson applies to persevering in positive ways, not ways which will diminish the strength and health of his body (like some women who blog into the wee hours of the morning and then wonder why they can't get their morning tasks accomplished).