Seizures aren't funny

So, our sweet middle child, Blake, came home from school yesterday and was a little bit upset about something that happened during recess.  One of his classmates asked him what was wrong with his baby sister and Blake told him she had seizures.  Well, evidently, the little boy and some friends starting playing a ‘game’ where they would  hit each other and say, “Oops, sorry, that was a seizure”  This rankles (is that a word?) me.  Not because I think these little boys were making fun of Peyton or of Blake.  It just rankles (I like that word!!) me because I know the horror of seizures and so does Blake.  We have seen first-hand how they can devastate.  We hate them at our house and we fight them as hard as we can so I guess it’s hard to swallow when someone makes a game out of something that has been so awfully and personally in our faces for the past year. 

So, how do I handle this??  I called his teacher and left a message for her to call me.  She is a sweet and understanding lady, so I am certain she will help out in whatever way she can.  I think an awareness of how making fun of something you know nothing about can be so personally hurtful to others.  I honestly don’t believe these feisty little third grade boys had any inkling of how much this bothered Blake or maybe they did, but they ARE feisty little third graders so I can hardly be upset with them. 

I know that in my life I have been apathetic to things like seizure disorders, special needs, etc….but having Peyton has changed my entire perspective and if I could go back and exhibit a little more compassion and understanding, I would.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I was never mean to anyone with special needs or delays, but since it really didn’t affect me or mine I didn’t pay a lot of attention to it – this seems so selfish in retrospect. 

Being the sibling to a child with special needs is a unique role and I feel like our kids have handled it so well.  They are my little heroes on a daily basis and they love Peyton as unconditionally as Ed and I do.  They are both fortunate to have a great school and such great little friends that accept them and love them and love Peyton, too.  I worry a lot about what Peyton can’t do and how many hurtles she is going to face in her life, but when I see the lives she has touched, it makes me realize how much she already has done.  

Her circumstances are a daily education…..a very humbling education.