His foot looks a bit different…
This morning, as I was making coffee for DH and I, I heard my kids in the bathroom teasing each other. They were imitating voices, but I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard my oldest son, Cory (9), making fun of how another child in his class talked.
I stopped what I was doing and called both boys into the kitchen. I explained to Cory, with tears in my eyes, that it was very unkind to make fun of anyone. Bill said to Cory "Quinn has his clubfoot, and walks different. One day someone might make fun of him. How would that make you feel?"
What hurt me so much was that my son was capable of being cruel to someone else. As parents we hope to high heaven that our children will not mock or taunt another child. We try and teach them kindness, love and empathy. I guess this was a moment of teaching and I hope he listened well.
It gave me a moment of thought about Quinn. He is such a sweet, gorgeous child….one that was born with idiopathic left clubfoot. At birth, it was rated a 17 on the 0-20 clubfoot scale, with 20 being the worst. there was little hope that it could be corrected without multiple surgeries. At age 3 1/2, Quinn has yet to experience the pain of surgery. His foot was corrected with the Dimeglio Physiotherapy Method for Clubfoot correction. It was daily massage and strategic taping that was done for 1 year. Today he rates about a 1 on the 0-20 scale and is considered corrected. He still has some "toeing in" of his forefoot, but his ortho doc is not concerned.
His foot looks a bit different. It is a full size smaller, and he skips when he runs. He has about 40% less muscle in his left calf than on his right side, so his leg looks skinny. One day I put a pair of crew socks on him with his tennis shoes and we went to play on the playground with a friend. My friend watched him and then said "Wow, I can really tell the difference in his legs with those socks on him. It is really a ton smaller" Gee, thanks. I really needed to hear that. Why don’t you say it a bit louder so Quinn can hear you. Shesh, if the parents are doing it, I can bet the kids will too.
Will he be teased? My heart aches at the thought. But for now, all I can do is teach my children kindness and love, hoping that they are listening and taking mental notes.
