Dancing

I know you are sick of hearing about Great Wolf Lodge. But I have one more story to share. After dinner, we rushed back to the hotel for a final round of Magiquest. Sadly it ended at 10pm and we were too late. So we put our wands away and headed for the Dance Party taking place in reception. The energetic DJ cranked up the music while the kids followed the moves performed by Just Dance 3 – showcased on the big screen TV. There were about 50 kids dancing along in the center of the immense lobby.  Without a moment's hesitation, Sam launched into the crowd and joined in. Even though keeping up was difficult for him (don't forget about his gross motor skill and motor planning deficits), he loved it and didn't stop moving for a solid twenty minutes. When he paused for a breath, he realized that he was the only of our family dancing so he grabbed my hand and pulled me out on to the floor with him.  I struggled along (it didn't take long to see which parent he gets his two left feet from) and when I couldn't stand the humiliation anymore, Tom took a turn.

Is this a new more outgoing version of Sam? Or am I looking too closely and giving Brain Balance more credit than it could possibly have earned so quickly?

I can't really tell. Even though Sam is super shy, there have been plenty of surprising moments over the years when his behavior has been unpredictable. At the end of every movie we saw when he was a toddler, he would stroll up to the front of the theater and dance. It would become Sam’s stage – with the credits rolling and the soundtrack blaring he would boogie his heart out  completely oblivious to the people watching and his lack of rhythm. He would get lost in the music and it was a sight to see. When he turned sixish he became more self aware and the performances stopped.

Maybe this incident at Great Wolf was just the residue of that dancing fool from years ago. Or maybe Sam is feeling a little better about himself and that’s allowing the happiness to surface in ways it hasn’t in years.  As I write this, I can feel my hope rising and it’s not because I think he’s getting any closer to hitting a home run or running a marathon. It’s because I want him to love himself as much as I do.  And if balancing his brain somehow makes him see that he’s one of the coolest kids around, it will be worth every penny (and then some).