How in the world do you explain danger to a child that doesn’t understand danger. Not one kind of danger. I gave Owen a bath, I always tell him to be careful, and he always jumps anyways. In the tote inside the tub, when he gets out of the tub, and when he walks away from the tub; there’s still jumping. Many years ago, Owen became afraid of the bathroom. He wouldn’t go in it, which means bath time was impossible. I had to come up with a way to get him back into the bathroom. I took one of his plastic, sensory totes, filled it with a tiny amount of water, and put it in the living room. This took some time for him to get in the tote, but he did it. One bath time down. For days, and days, after that I slowly inched the tub towards the bathroom; each day getting closer, and closer to success. The tote has now become what he expects in the tub. It’s like his little sensory alcove. He squishes himself down into the tote, pushing on the walls, and stretching for sensory input. Over the years, the totes have gotten bigger, and been replaced as he literally busts them at the seams, from his stretching, and moving. After last night’s jumping, I wanted the whole tub to be in a soft plastic. He fought sleep last night, running around, avoiding it, as much as he could. He woke around four, got into bed with me, immediately asking for his teacher. Before I could say it, he told me he would see her Monday. I cannot wait for spring break to be over, so we can have routine again. For two hours he talked to me, off, and on, about school, church, and going to the potty. Finally with his milk request, he was off to get it. The morning has been rough; him screaming an inch from my nose, about wanting to start our day, even though we couldn’t go bowling yet. Off, and running for us soon. We are all faced with challenges,but push through those moments in time, and know that you are a lot stronger than you think. Smiles to all and donut daze!
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