Dragon Slayer

Despite several dedicated classroom talks, Robby's peers remain fascinated by my prosthetic. They continue to rush me as soon as I enter the classroom and begin to barrage me with questions about my leg and pleas to hold it. I've tried wearing jeans in an attempt to camouflage my prosthetic, but my efforts were in vain as the students simply lifted up my pant leg and added, "Why are you covering it up" to their lists of questions.

It is obvious that although his classmates continue to be enthralled, Robby is bored with the attention my prosthetic is garnering. To him it is completely normal; he fails to understand the "novelty" of my taking off my leg. Lately I have noticed that Robby is becoming increasingly annoyed with the constant requests to learn about my prosthetic. He has begun to say things like "Yeah yeah, she can take it off. Now can you (referring to his classmate) move so that we can leave?" His patience with his inquisitive classmates is certainly wearing thin!

I decided that it was time to have a special heart to heart with Robby to discuss his friends' curiosity. Tuesday afternoon we sat down over a plate of warm chocolate chip cookies (my attempt to keep him still during our talk) and reminded him that not every Momom can take her leg off. His friends, I explained, were excited that I was able to use a prosthetic. After all, my leg is special because not everybody gets to have one. I had a moment of private celebration as I congratulated myself on a fantastic explanation! He chomped on his cookie and seemed unfazed.

Later that night. Scott and I packed up Robby and went to Chick fil A because the restaurant was hosting a Prince and Princess kids night. In addition to a variety of medieval themed crafts, if your child came in costume they ate free. I put Robby's pirate hat on him, told him that he was now Prince Robby, and set out to claim our free meal.

Robby was delighted to be at Chick fil A, and seemed just as happy to be a prince. He and Scott decorated a shield and Robby played with the other princesses and princes of the Chick fil A kingdom. After eating our meal and surrendering to the fact that Robby was too busy playing to eat his, I went into the playroom to retrieve my little Prince.

Almost as soon as I entered the room I heard Robby's playmate ask, "What happened to your mommy's leg?" After seeing him roll his eyes and hearing what I swear was a sigh, I saw Robby crack a little smile. "Oh, her leg got bit off by a mean dragon that was breathing fire. Don't worry though, because I killed him with my magic sword."

The little girls eyes almost bugged out of her face! Robby grabbed my hand and he skipped out of the playroom. In that moment I realized that Robby is going to be facing questions about my leg for years to come. I think he'll learn to navigate those waters in his own unique way.