David Weekly, V3 - 9

Went to the Celtic Festival with David. He went on the play ground equipment there, and pushed another little boy. The boy's mother came up to me to report this to me. I was, of course, upset. And held David until he settled down. I asked him about pushing the other boy, and he lied to me! Not that I'm surprised; he is four. I told him this is unacceptable. He was good, though, when we went looking at the vendors' items for sale. I told him "don't touch", and he didn't! What a good boy.

In a separate park, later in the day, we encountered a different boy, who was at the top of a slide. David and I had discussed, because of the previous situation, what to do when he has a problem with another kid: Practice saying, "Go away!" or "Leave me alone!" or "Help me, daddy!" or "Excuse me!" We also talked about "The Rules": No Hitting, No Pushing, and No Kicking. Use your words. David tried the "Excuse me" line when the other boy wouldn't move out of the way, but he didn't respond. After a few times trying to get this boy's attention, I told David to tap the other boy's shoulder. But this other boy's parents told him to slide down the slide. I realized that this other boy must have some kind of disorder, since he wasn't speaking, and otherwise looked normal. I told David that this other boy's brain works differently than his, because the other boy wasn't talking. David wants to know why it works differently. I didn't know, just said that it does. Just like his own hand is different, or his eyes are blue and other people have brown eyes, and we don't know why. I asked David if there was another way he could communicate. David said he didn't know, so I said, "What about smiling?" Since everyone smiles, this seemed like a good thing. David was turning the idea about this kid being different over and over, exploring it, trying to figure it out, why the differences, what did it mean...

"They're there!" He loves it when he comes across things like that. He thinks this is so funny. "They" are Avery and Jared, and at they're at their house there.

We sat on Friday morning, watching the rain, before getting ready for school, in the morning light. David had asked to go outside and watch the rain. He and I sat and watched the world go by. He covered the two of us with his blanket.

I watched him at his school on Wednesday morning, and the other kids are "handsy", in that they all touch each other. I think part of what happens to David is that he gets "touched" (really, more like a slap on the back, or something that is more than a gentle or accidental touch), then gets very upset because he takes it personally. It just switches from 'fun' to insult/injury.

Wednesday night, David tells me he had a good day, but the teacher disagrees. After a few minutes, we realize that he did, in fact, have a good day, but only at the very end did he have an issue with another child. When he gets into "angry mode", he stops listening. It's very hard to deal with him when he gets that way. We're working on helping him to handle his anger, and how to listen. He has a new "teacher", Ms. Ky. (pronounced like "hi") It's short for something, but I don't remember. I'm also working on rewards that aren't treats. I'd like some suggestions on a daily thing, stickers...something where I can reward him that isn't food. Also, David was looking forward to getting to go to Rachel's on Thursday: he is now able to keep up with the days of the week. Smart kid!

David likes to wear 2 shirts when it's cold, but this week, it was finally warm! We took advantage of a beautiful day Tuesday to play with a ball outside. Spring just sort of happened all at once here.

Curiously, David has begun a habit: eating his shirt. He sucks on the sleeve of his shirt, or he chews on the shoulder. I have no idea why he does it, or how to get him to stop. This is also something that just started all at once.

Lastly, David has a puzzle of the solar system, that's huge, like 2 feet by 3 feet. He got it as a gift the other day. He loves to put it together. It's been interesting to watch him figure out which piece goes where. I've been teaching him how to organize the pieces according to color or what ever else might be on them, and by either the edge pieces or the middle ones. I do a lot of it but the more we work the puzzle together, the more he does. He still has trouble understanding how the edge pieces all go in the same direction to fit together, though. But I know he'll get it. Smart kid, that one.