My children slept until 8AM...this has never happened. I
guess God thougt I could use a little extra rest to make it through. As I got the kids ready, I also prepped for
our day out.
We visited the Family Museum. The train table is the area that makes me
most nervous because it requires sharing and is Deane's favorite. A mom with her two children joined us
there. Her kids were awesome and played
with 1 or 2 trains that Deane wasn't and let him run his 6 car train all over
the table. Kate eventually wanted
in. She is used to grabbing for his stuff. During this time, the mom and I are chatting
and she even invited me to a playgroup from her church. Deane became distracted with something nearby
so another little girl picked up his train.
He noticed (as he always does) and quickly grabbed a couple cars from
her. I intervened, reminded him we must
share. Deane's reaction to his frustration isn't verbal. He hasn't figured out how to process these feelings and communicate them. He decided to hit Kate. I was
requiring him to say "sorry" to the other little girl (which he maybe/kind of did)
but I told him we would have to go because there is no hitting or grabbing. I
knew it was about to hit the fan if we kept playing there and thought this was the ultimate punishment, to remove him from the train altogether. The first mom was so sweet to tell me her
name and nice to meet me as I was trying to resolve this. I figured she was thinking why did I invite
this crazy crew to our playgroup. I
walked them over to Kate's stroller to buckle her in. Deane bolted and pushed the little girl at
the train table. I apologized to the
girl's stunned grandma who sat with her mouth open and didn't say a word. I carried a yelling and flopping Deane
out.
We didn't have enough time to go home before our afternoon appointment so we met Chris for
lunch. Deane looked alarmed going
through the line at Qdoba (where we chose because I had a coupon but forgot to
use!). He just folded into Chris.
Fortunately, it was nice enough to sit outside so Deane could recline into
a chair and get away from the noise. Chris reminded me that I'm
doing the right thing by continuing to try and give Deane new opportunities
and that I shouldn't hide at home. Then
Chris dumped my drink on the ground :)
Next we had to go to occupational therapy.
Deane was upset on the way and as we arrived, repeating NO over and
over. In the waiting room, we repeated
the sharing "teaching" (aka refereeing) until it was time for him to
go back. He did fine in his session (with the exception of screaming about the idea of touching shaving cream), but
afterward wanted to take their dinosaurs with him even though we have several
plastic dinosaurs at home. He
screamed and cried while we left, changed his diaper and drove home, for about
25 minutes, until he passed out. Just after he
fell asleep, I heard Steve Shawn McDonald's "Rise". It's such an uplifting song and a reminder to get back up.
I'm so sorry that life is so frustrating for Deane and that seemingly small things cause him to behave in a way that label him and us. BUT we will try again...
Since both children are asleep, I am quickly typing this up (sorry no editing today) and running downstairs to watch a little Real Housewives, but only because it would be inappropriate to have a margarita at 3PM....I think.
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