It takes a person about 5 minutes after meeting Jace to realize that he is a spitfire. Then sometimes, it takes them an hour or so to realize that sometimes he can spit so much fire that they find themselves questioning my parenting techniques. Which can be interesting, considering it takes most people even less time to realize that I breathe fire too. (Maybe he gets it from me, eh? ) 😉

Seriously though… Jace is so “feisty,” that it worried his doctor at his 3 year check up. NOW, Jace is particularly  terrified of the doctor’s office. We hit the door at that place and all bets are off. So I maintain that she doesn’t get a fair scope of his actual behavior. She was so bold as to call some of his doings “red flags” for conditions like Autism. Talk about freaking a mother out!  I disagreed with her, but took him to see a specialist anyway. Intentionally a specialist of my own choosing, instead of the one she recommended.

We met with the specialist multiple times in order for him to complete his assessments of Jace. The tests ranged from flash cards, to games, to tickle fights, to intentionally irritating Jace to see how he reacted (there was fire.) 😉 Needless to say… it took this specialist all of 15 minutes to completely rule out Autism. And Jace is actually quite advanced in most cognitive areas (although this can be common in autistic people as well.)

His diagnosis? Feisty.

Jace is a pistol, through and through. There isn’t a thing I can do to change it. Of course we have to work everyday to manage it , but his strong will remains. Some people have suggested to me that I break it – his will… but you know what? I don’t even want to.  And here are a few reasons why…

Jace challenges me everyday. Every. Single. Day. For most of the day. He teaches me patience, and then he teaches it to me again.

He teaches me humility. I’m a damn good mother, and I know it… but every once in a while, this kid embarrasses the hell out of me. He’s usually the brattiest kid at the birthday parties, and he cries when its time to leave, and I have to chase him down and carry him to the car. And I promise it’s not because I let him walk all over me, or fail to discipline him… so don’t even go there.

He mirrors me. Jace & I are cut from the same cloth. We live in a world of extremes. It is what it is…we’re open books with all of our thoughts and feelings bared for the world to see. I can hardly fault the kid for a trait that is so obvious in myself.

It’s not just a bad thing, this attitude that exhausts me so thoroughly everyday. So I’ll grin and bear it, and do my best to steer his attitude to some means of productivity. Even in adulthood, I find my strong will can sometimes be problematic. But at other times (that are of our choosing)… people like Jace & I have more vigor & drive than all the rest put together. 🙂

I can’t be the only mom out there with a difficult child?!