I realize a lot of people have trouble accepting praise. I just don't think they respond by turning into a belligerent sailor like T does. Even on the best of days I know she's just trolling her internal card catalogue for the appropriate script that will get me to shut up and move on. Our NT 5 yr old, M on the other hand, basks in the glory of any bit of praise thrown her way, like pretty much every other NT kid in the world.
You'd think I'd learn my lesson and just hold T's praise, but yet again I'm an epic failure. I mean seriously, how dare I wanna' throw a little glitter when she does something particularly awesome?!? Today's incident happened after OT. Her therapist and I were having the "after OT chat". The OT was telling me what an amazingly great session she had. You could see the change physically come over T as she heard this. This isn't an "aw-shucks" kind of reaction, it's a "you must be stopped at all costs" reaction. She flew off the floor and onto my lap, then actually tried to wrestle me down while covering my mouth with her hand. She was growling at me that I need to stop and she doesn't want us talking about that. Nothing was going to get through at that point so we just played it off like we were done talking and headed for the door. Unfortunately, the damage was all ready done. When we finally made it to the car, I was buckling K in and making sure M buckled when I realized there was no sign of T getting in on her side. That would be because she was laying in the middle of the parking lot, oblivious to the fact that she had actually stopped traffic. She was still wearing the scowl of doom so I knew I'd have to pick her up and force her in the car. I may curse those damn child-locks when I actually want the kids to get out, but on days like today I at least knew she was locked in. The 10 min. drive to school wasn't any better. The venom was flying. When we got to school, she was shocked that I didn't feel she was able and/or willing to walk in and find her teacher who meets us at the office on Thurs. She glued herself to a NO PARKING sign and hurled insults at her teacher across the driveway. After I pried her off there, drug her across the crosswalk, and handed her to her teacher, I.....ran like hell and jumped in my car. In my defense, I did watch and make sure she wasn't actually being dangerous. I really would've liked to hear what her and her teacher were saying to each other, but wasn't about to leave the safety of my car. It only took 5 min. or so for T to meander inside with her teacher....God bless her.
So why is praise such a bitter pill for T to swallow? And why the hell can't I just learn to keep my mouth shut? Because I keep looking for that one moment when I break through. Seeing that even one time will make all the other times worth every second.
No comments:
Post a Comment