With the birth of our son Jackson, who has Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), came the entrance of trains into my life. Yes, trains of all kinds. Steam, commuter, cargo, cartoon, long, short, toy…It didn’t matter, as long as it was a train. From the moment he could focus his eyes on a toy and show interest in specific objects, trains ruled his world. The joy that they brought to his face was unmistakable.

Many SPD parents will tell you that their child has an object or subject that they are obsessed with. For some it may be princesses, for others dinosaurs or trains. When I say obsessed, I mean obsessed. Jackson slept with trains, even hard plastic or metal ones, and he would cuddle with them like they were a soft teddy bear. He ate with trains and went shopping with trains. It wasn’t uncommon to walk into his room and find that he had all his toy trains ordered by color or size in a line that stretched across the room. We had several large train sets that we would continuously take down and put back up in different configurations.  We attended every model train show that came to town.

Our whole family started to yell out, “Train!” when we spotted one. It seemed we were always on the lookout for trains. It was a big bonus if they were moving instead of just sitting still. One particular story that always makes me laugh takes place on an evening my husband and I had a rare date night out. We were driving on the highway to our dinner destination and saw a train in the distance. We both shouted out, “Train!” at the same time. There was a moment of silence before we both realized what we had just done and the laughter set in. The habits we develop as parents!

As Jackson got older his love for trains became less apparent.  He’s an 11-year-old now, and just last year we were cleaning out the basement when he chose to get rid of the majority of his favorite train set.  It broke my heart just a little to see them go. There were so many meltdowns when Jackson was little, where trains were the only thing that would bring a smile to his face.  They were his security blanket and perhaps mine, too.

Today, Jackson doesn’t carry around trains anymore. If you ask him if he loves them you’ll get the preteen eye-roll and maybe an answer of, “Not really anymore.” Though as his mom, I can still see that twinkle in his eyes when we see or hear a train. Society and peers can often pressure our kids to conform to certain age appropriate behaviors, and they do because they want to fit in.  One of my favorite quotes by Rebecca Smith Masterson says, “My kid takes longer to ‘grow up.' Secretly, that is sort of awesome.” There are many ways SPD has blessed us and this is a huge one.  Just for a bit longer my son got to stay a little younger in my mom heart.

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Meggin has recently achieved a long term goal of founding a non-profit organization, Sensational Hope (www.sensationalhope.org), which provides community awareness about SPD in the Kansas City Metro Area. It connects families as well as assists children with SPD in the purchase of needed therapy equipment. Meggin resides in the Kansas City area with her husband of 15 years, Erich, her two sons, Bryce and Jackson, her two furry children (dogs) Chance and Sadie, two Rabbits (Max and Bailey), and last but not least, 10 fish.  Meggin is honored to blog for the STAR Institute and is looking forward to connecting with other SPD families.