I watched Amichai walk out of the supermarket last week. He had his right hand stretched out and was running his finger tips across the surface of the wall he was walking beside. He did it again when I picked him up from pre-school a few days ago, running his right hand over the hooks that line the wall for hanging up bags and coats. A classic kid thing to do. I don’t know what the big draw is, although I can certainly remember doing the same thing. It’s always the simple things that keep them entertained. And, as I watched Amichai – I was overcome with a simple sense of gratitude.

When Amichai was first diagnosed, and the doctors explained that he would potentially have difficulty using his right side – I couldn’t necessarily process what that meant, or how it would look. I mean the doctors couldn’t offer much information beyond that basic statement, so how was I supposed to understand it? How was I supposed to picture it?

I remember being strangely focused on shoes. Over and over again, I thought – how would he tie his shoes? And then I got angry with myself. Shouldn’t I be focused on the big picture stuff? Yet all I could think about were the ordinary activities of a child’s life. Playing with toys. Holding a cup with two hands. Feeding oneself. Getting dressed on your own…Learning how to tie your shoes. But I think my obsessive thoughts about the ordinary were really getting at a larger issue – Would he be able to do all the little things? The routine things, the things we do so effortlessly that we barely take notice we are doing them.

Amichai puts effort into everything he does. To be clear, I don’t think this is a bad thing – he’s learning early on that effort always pays off. And because of his tremendous efforts, nothing goes unnoticed. We will be eating dinner and all the sudden he’s staring at me which a huge smile –  because he’s picked up his fork with his right hand. He will be cleaning up toys in his room and all the sudden he will run out laughing with joy – because he’s holding a toy car in each hand. We will be at the park and he will be shrieking with excitement –  because he’s climbed the ropes by himself. Just the other night as he was getting his pajamas on, he was simply elated – because he grabbed his toes with his right hand. His joy is real and true and simple. He takes notice of those very little details that we all skip over. The don’t even enter our radar, but they are moments of celebration for Amichai. And now they are moments of celebration for me as well.

Someone was once amazed at how easily I can catch a ball. I didn’t get it. Catching to me is like breathing – you just do it, it requires no effort. But it does. In fact, most people aren’t that great at catching. As silly as it sounds, I am more thankful for that skill today than I ever was growing up. But most people are pretty proficient when it comes to the daily activities of life. Every day we do the little things – we don’t think about it, we don’t sweat it. We don’t even notice. But nothing is a given – that’s a lesson that Amichai has hammered home for me. The routine aspects of our life – its not a given that we just do it. The mundane shouldn’t just be brushed off. It is a big deal. We should take time to notice.

I watched my 4 year old son run right his hand over the surface of a wall. And I was so grateful – not only because he was able to stretch his arm out and open up his fist, but also because I noticed.

I cannot wait for him to tie his shoes.