He's come a long way.

We have been raising our grandson, Timothy, ever since he first came home from the hospital as an infant. We have been, in every sense of the word, his parents since day one. When he was two years old we legally adopted him, and later had him sealed to us in the Temple. Although it can make for a bit of confusion, as Maleen is both his aunt and sister, and her children are both his cousins and nieces, we have kept things simple. He calls me Grandma, and Bill Grandpa, and his biological mother (Miranda) is Mommy.

Tim is not a very social person. He has quite a few quirks in his personality, and there have been times that we could only shake our head in disbelief at some of the antics he has displayed. In Primary he would pull his coat over his head and pretend that he wasn't there. During Primary presentations (in the chapel), instead of singing he would be down on the ground between the pews, or making faces and disturbing the children next to him. During Sacrament meetings he would be writhing around on the seat, or down on the floor (again!). No amount of bribes, punishments, wheedling or threats could change this. He was definitely his own person!

When he discovered the joy of electronic games (GameBoy, Play Station, Computer) we at last had something we could hold over him, as if he had his way this is all he would do. Now we can use 'screen time' for rewards (or loss thereof for punishments), although this still didn't change much of his behavior. It gave us a handle, but he still continued to be his own kind of kid. The writhings on the church seat stayed off of the floor; he still wouldn't sing for the Primary presentations, but at least he would stand there instead of being down on everybody else's feet. When it was time for him to give his vocal presentation, one of the teachers would rush forward to be there in case he needed prompting (which he usually didn't) so I guess his behavior in Primary still wasn't perfect, although he had stopped pulling his coat over his head in primary.

Tim was in his very last Ward Primary Presentation last Sunday. He will be turning 12 next month, and will become a Deacon and move up into Young Men. I watched in proud amazement as he stood there SINGING the songs with the rest of the kids. He didn't look particularly thrilled to be there, but he was standing quietly instead of down inspecting everybody's shoes. When it was time for him to give his talk (which he had written himself) he did a magnificent job. The number of people who talked to us afterwards to tell us how wonderful it was could not be counted. In private, Tim told me that he had felt the Spirit as he gave his talk.

Don't get me wrong - he is far from being a perfect kid. The battles between him and Bill send me cringing from the room, and 'screen time' is still uppermost on his list of things to do. But when I think back on how we despaired of him ever being 'normal' - or at least as normal as anybody in OUR family can be, I am so grateful for the progress we've all made. I am SO grateful that the Lord brought this child into our lives and gave him to us to raise, and I hope we can do a decent job of it. And here he is, doing what he loves best.