I've always struggled with patience and, as a result, have always encountered challenges that tested me to and beyond my limits. I used to wonder why, but since adopting Alivia it has become obvious. I need every scrap of patience I can scrounge up and then some to deal with the day to day of living with someone with FASD. Nothing is ever heard the first time you say it. Nor the second. Usually not the third either. Actually, it's not that it's not heard, but that it's not processed. Once it is processed, it's often promptly forgotten, leading to yet another round of repetitions. I really, I mean REALLY, hate to repeat myself.
Then there's the other side of the coin where something is mentioned just once, totally as an aside to a conversation, and it gets locked into her little brain FOREVER! Or that overheard curse word that suddenly becomes her favorite word to say... Yes, I know I shouldn't curse in front of her, but that kind of leads me back to the previous paragraph. Did I mention how much I hate to repeat myself?
I know that part of the problem is her total lack of impulse control. She gets an idea to do something and she can't not do it (double negatives intended!) I've also learned not to tell her not to do something (example--don't touch the stove) unless it's something I really do want her to do. She can't resist doing that thing that she is told not to do--even if it had never occurred to her to do it before I mentioned it.
On another note... This weekend we (a friend and me) will be finishing building Alivia's new bed. It's a loft bed with a play area beneath that can become a bed if we have a guest. Alivia is really excited about it and keeps asking when it will be ready. I hope she'll use it... I'd really like to have my bed back all to myself again. Well, me and the two cats, anyway. I'll post pics once we get it done!
~ Jeana
No comments:
Post a Comment