Where the Beep Beep Went Wrong

You might want to review last week's Where the Beep Beep Went Right. And then the intro....

New to the Life is Therapy series? Here's a quick blurb to tell you what it's about:

Sometimes we parents can get bogged down in the notion that the teaching of our children must be done by professionals. Parents of children with special needs are particularly vulnerable to this idea since children with special needs often have to learn and develop quite differently than children with typical needs. This series centers around the idea that learning can and does occur most effectively through everyday life experiences at home and out in the community--for children with both typical and special needs.

You might remember this and this and this

from last year's Beeping Easter Egg Hunt. I was NOT making the same mistakes this year! If he did not want to hunt Easter eggs or pose with his basket, that was fine. We would just enjoy being outside and he could run along the yellow tape to his heart's content.

*As a quick aside, anybody notice that my kiddo has had another growth spurt?*

So that's it...I did everything right and we had an awesome time with no issues at all that day! Yeah, right!

Not long after he began running around in the grass, Jack started asking me to carry him. I tried and tried and tried to tell him to walk but oh no he wanted Mama to carry him. I thought maybe it was because the sun was too bright and I forgot his sunglass clip ons. When the sun is very very bright he tends to get clingy or he gets rooted to one spot or the shade. I relented and carried him around a bit until we happened upon the trampoline and he declared, "Shoes off, jump, jump!" as he frantically pushed at his sandals.

He slowly worked his way up to a standing position on the trampoline as I snapped pictures

.

That's when I noticed how big (relative to how small they were) his feet are getting. I checked out his toes and sure enough his little piggies were rubbing against the inside of those sandals. No wonder he did not want to walk!

A fairly short time after we started jumping (relative to the amount of time we usually spend jumping on a trampoline every time we get a chance), someone announced that the tactile puppet show was about to start. I'd had my heart set on Jack experiencing the tactile puppet show. I gave him the 10 minute countdown and we went inside where he immediately began fussing about going back outside.

It was a bit loud with the live music and people just coming in for the puppet show. I told Jack that this was new and fun. I told him that I wanted him to give it a try before he decided that he did not like it.

A musician brought a drum over and Jack began banging away in about 15 seconds of pure joy but then it clicked...I guess he thought I tricked him. He began getting all upset again and the musician just did not know what to do. Frankly, I didn't either. I was playing all this by ear. I told the musician to go ahead and move on to the next participant since I did not think Jack wanted to play anymore. I tried for another eternity five minutes or so to get Jack to calm down and feel the puppets but he just wasn't having it.

A sympathetic mom offered that her son also gets overwhelmed in large noisy crowds like that one. While I thought that some of it was tantrum (about wanting to be outside), I had to agree that the environment was a bit overwhelming. I took him just outside the door in hopes that he would calm down enough to return. He did calm down but he wasn't going back and that's when we headed for the swings and he was happy again.

So where's the therapy in all this? Well there was the new experience, the jumping, the running around, the listening to instructions (sort of) but mostly there's the review....overall Jack had fun. I know the parts that he enjoyed the best. In review, I can tell you where I went wrong--too small shoes, no sunglass clip ons, not really giving him clear information about the puppet show and how there would be lots of noise and lots of people. Each time, we try something new it prepares us both for the next time we have that experience and if I take the time to review what went right and what went wrong, then I can do a better job the next time. I'll never anticipate everything. I'll never get everything right. It's part of the parenting journey. And now I'm a little further along on the journey. Each experience better prepares for the next especially if we take the time to think over just what happened.

Next time an event doesn't go like you planned, I encourage you to take a little time and review.

Recent Life is Therapy Posts can be found at:

Boring Life
Spring Break
Code Words
For more Life is Therapy Posts, check out the left side bar.

Now it's your turn to participate. This is where we share our ideas and stories with one another. We're all in this together. Let's laugh together, motivate one another, and stimulate each others ideas. If you have a blog, create your own "life is therapy" post and leave your link in the comments. If you don't have a blog just leave a comment with your life is therapy story.

Safety FAIL

You know how we are super uber safety conscious 'round here?

umm......

Please remember that the "chest" clip is what keeps your child from flying out of his 5 point harness and it belongs in the super safe zone about level with the arm pits. And moms, if the family is in a hurry and Dad helps Junior into the car, check the car seat before you snap your cute picture of riding off to visit friends.

For more Friday FAILs, click here.

How to Get the Perfect Posed Shot

Back in December of last year, I gave a tutorial on How to Get the Perfect Group Shot. So many of you laughed uncontrollably over my lack of skills found my tutorial to be helpful so I've decided to help you with another lesson. Today, we'll talk about capturing the perfect posed shot.

Step 1: Seat subject in front of lovely background and get him prepared for the shot.

*ahem* Prepared for the shot?

Alrighty then!

Step 2: Snap your lovely picture.

Uh....focus? Did I forget to mention focusing the camera?

Eh....if subject looks up at camera while sitting in front of lovely background and you've got him in focus, just snap the picture, his shirt got dirty before the photo session so you know you weren't going to send it out anyway he's so adorable he looks great smiling or not!

Will Return Monday, February 22, 2010

Do not be alarmed. We are experiencing technical difficulties here at Jack's house and will be taking a short hiatus to sort out the difficulties and get caught up on work and home stuff that has fallen behind due to these technical glitches and the time it takes to fix them.

In the meantime, please pray for Jack to get rid of this persistent ear infection. He is on week 2 of his oral antibiotic after we learned that the bacteria does not respond to the ear drop antibiotics he was getting. And on top of that, he has managed to catch a cold. His nighttime breathing continues to be well managed with his Bipap AVAP, Afrin, and his antihistamine/decongestant combination. Thanks for checking in and we'll see you back here next week!

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