I will not wedge my head in small spaces

Long story, short, the lesson of the day is: I will not wedge my head into a space so small that I am then trapped and panic and begin flailing about nearly breaking my neck until I can be found (under the furniture) and rescued.

This is the lesson Jane, the girl with no spatial perception, logic, or impulse control, learned today.

Remember that character from Family Ties who kept getting his head trapped between the banister railings and it was a joke that he did it over and over again? I always thought that was a ridiculous plot line that had no basis in reality. I was wrong.

Comments

I Lied.

For the very first time I lied to a birth family member. I've been brutally honest even when it caused an uproar. I've been honest because I was personally committed to always telling the truth. Until now. Because this lie may actually be the best way to preserve Jane's relationship with her birth family. At our last video call with Grandma Jane seemed uninterested, unengaged, not showing any real emotion. I struggled to find things to prompt her to talk about. Over the next two weeks I waited and she never asked for another call. In the third week I casually brought up the topic and she did not really respond, certainly didn't ask for another call. Finally, yesterday I point blank asked if she wanted to do a video call and she said the word yes but her whole body language said no. It was clear that she was saying yes because she thought she was supposed to, not because she wanted to. So, I took her body language rather than her words and made the decision that we...

Nope, Just Halloween Hades

GRANDMA'S RESPONSE It was fine. Daytime trick or treating at the fairgrounds with Grandma was perfectly fine. She never even asked about school. She never asked about our next get together. In fact, she didn't do much except point out other fun costumes people were wearing. Here's what I forgot: she's the most conflict averse person I've ever met. She doesn't want to talk about any unpleasant topics. She doesn't want to think about anything unhappy. She wants to live in a childish bubble of candy and cartoons. I don't think she even realizes that kids are old enough to be in Kindergarten. I don't think she even thinks about such things. In fact, she didn't truly talk to the kids that much. She was super happy they gave her hugs at the beginning. She liked the fun of the event and escorting kids was a great way to have fun. Really, the kids are just props so she can feel like a fun grandma. She doesn't really want a relationship. She wants p...

How Girls Talk

Since Jane and Kate came to us I've been annoyed by how Jane talks. She was 3 yrs, 2 months old but advanced for her age in her language skills. I felt she spoke as clearly and had nearly as big of a vocabulary as many 4 year olds. What annoyed me was something I have a hard time defining. I guess "whiny" and "passive aggressive" come close. For example, if she wanted some crackers she would look at the box and say, "Those are crackers!" and then, a few moments later, "I very like crackers!" (she has this cute speech pattern of using 'very' to mean 'really' and I wanted to capture it here before I forgot) I began using the phrase, "You are a strong, smart girl!" with a big smile followed by an explicit instruction on how I wanted her to behave. So, I'd say, "Jane, I know that you are a strong, smart girl and you can tell me just what you want. You can say, 'Can I have some crackers, please?' a...

Foster Further

Search This Blog