Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Overload



After school, Evan and I went back to the school to have some playtime with the two kids of one of the teachers. This was the first time he has experienced the ball pit....he approved. We were there for 45 minutes, which was probably just the right amount of time.

We then hurried back home, quickly ate dinner, and headed off to the library for toddler time. All the hurrying was not the best of ideas.

Toddler time, where do I start. Well, first, the class size is small (6 kids)---that's good, the person leading it is really nice---another plus, but....the room is on the small size. Evan feels a need to leave the room as soon as we get in it. I bring in a couple of books, which helps divert his attention for a while. Tonight when she read, we weren't even sitting on the floor with the group (which we have been able to accomplish in past visits). We stood close to the walls, looking at the picture of the duck on the wall, as he whined/moaned. The craft----we stood back as I watched the other kids make the rabbit craft. He continued to whine (luckily, not too loudly, I hope). Snack time---he let ME give him his drink (something he is capable of doing, but at this point I was willing to do it for him so he wouldn't whine anymore). They had deviled eggs that were decorated to look like a rabbit; he tried a bite, but wasn't too fond of them.

Ahh, memories. I used to bring Kyle to story time. I think Evan does a little better, but that really isn't all that comforting. When the boys were younger, I rarely explained to anyone that they had Fragile X; I didn't want to make excuses for their behavior. But that approach probably left me feeling a little more frustrated, because not only was I dealing with their behaviors, I was worrying about what other people must have thought of my parenting skills. It's not that I want to tell everyone I meet on the street what's going on, but I think in this type of situation, an explanation might be beneficial. I'm just not sure how to go about doing this.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

We love those fragile X cards that they sell on the NFXF website. We use them to explain Matty's behavior a lot. It makes it easier on everyone :0)

fragilemom said...

I actually made up our own FX cards, very similar to ones we have seen only we added a Bible verse onto it. We handed them out on the plane to and from California for Ian's child study. There was only 1 woman who was totally irrational about Ian and I was ready to bop her big time, BUT I didn't. I decided it was her loss for her to not to try to understand. I also figured it was good enough that Ian threw 'disgust-a-puppy' at her! :)

I can say that I've quit deciding I was judge and jury for other parents that I thought had no control over their children. Oh, the lessons we learn in life! I have WAY more compassion, whether I know the circumstance or not. I try to think that maybe others have that too for me.

Jen said...

I checked out the cards on the website and created some that were similiar. Now all I have to do is actually use them.....