Not at all! I read every single word as well. That is AWESOME! It is great that he has come so far!
I read every last word. This is an uplifting post. Yeah I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for you in a lot of ways. Keep up the good work. I can see you posting about him loosing the label someday.
Concernedpa.
There have been so many postive things happening recently that I just have to share!
For the past 3 years I've been carrying around this giant tote bag which in retrospect was a "meltdown preparedness kit" of sorts. In this bag was always a fresh cup of milk in C's "special milk cup" with some ice, and a backup lemonade in case he plowed through the milk quickly, a willbarger brush, some favorite toys, favorite snacks - essentially I was carrying around anything and everything that ever worked at any point in time to calm C down when he had a rager. Well, I decided about a week or so ago that meldowns had become so few and far between that I no longer needed to carry a ginormous bag of crap with me every time I leave the house with C for 5 minutes, so I just stopped. I now leave the house with my purse, holding my child by the hand, like a normal person. I no longer have to run around like a lunatic for 10 minutes gathering "stuff" before I leave the house. I feel like a new woman!
So today I took a half day off of work to take C to the dentist. On my way there I was rethinking my decision to abandon the "crap bag" because the dentist can be a dicey proposition with any child. Anyway, we go into the waiting room and I tell C to go tell the receptionist that he's here. So C walks up to the desk and says "hi, I'm Connor, I'm here." She smiled and said "you're all checked in" and C said "thanks." C then went over to the fish tank and put his hands on the glass. I pointed to a small sign and said "C, what does that say?" He said "Do Not Touch." I was amazed. I knew he knew "do" and "not" but I didn't know he knew "touch." He then went to put his hands again and I said "what did the sign say" and he pulled his hands down to his sides and smiled.
The hygenist comes out and calls his name and he gets up and says "bye mommy" and walks through the door she is holding open. I asked if I should come and the hygenist said there was no need, so I just sat in the lobby reading my magazine. The dentist comes out to talk to me about 20 minutes later. He said C's teeth looked great but we should get him flossing more. He then said C wasn't thrilled with the fluoride treatment and said it tasted yucky. Then the hygenist brings C out (looking unhappy) and says goodbye. He turns to her and with an angry face says "I don't like the yucky stuff in my mouth. You're fired!" (Little Mr. Trump LOL). I simply said "C, you can't fire her because you're not her boss." He looked at me and said "I'm out of here. I'm leaving. He then walked out the door into the hall and looked back in through the glass. He just stood there without making a move to run off, so I just let him stay there while I paid up. I then walked him out to the car and the whole time he kept saying "I don't like to go to the dentist. That was yucky." Then he got into the car, put his headphones on and started watching a DVD and was fine.
Five minutes later I pulled into Babies R Us and told C we have to buy a baby gift for Zachary's new sister. He asked nicely "can I have a toy?" I told him that this store only had baby toys, but later at Chuck E Cheese he could get a toy. He said "ok, we'll get toy later." When we got in the store he ran over to a display of baby dresses and said "mommy, how about these for girls?" He then spent 10 minutes helping me pick out an outfit. He insisted on carrying it. He stood in line in front of me at checkout and when it was his turn he put each item in front of the clerk saying "here is pants, here is shirt, here is sweater, here is bag, all for baby girl." The clerk smiled at him and told him he was a great little helper and he said "I know" and smiled. He then held my hand through the parking lot and happily carried the bag on the way home.
When we got home C ran smiling into the house to show our nanny and R his "brand new shiny toothbrush" and was very happy.
Rewind to when C was 3.... I vividly recall taking him to the dentist for the first "real trip." (We had went when the boys were 2 just so they could meet the dentist and ride in the chair, but nothing was actually done during that visit.) The long and the short of it, C threw a raging meltdown when the hygenist tried to look in his mouth. He spit on her kicked over and entire tray of instruments - sharp items flying through the air, broken glass on the floor. While I was trying to calm (aka restrain) him he punched me in the face and split my lip and I had blood dripping down my face and onto my shirt because I needed to keep both hands on C and couldn't wipe it off. I carried him through the waiting room in that state, kicking and screaming, with the receptionist following me telling me not to worry, we wouldn't be charged for the visit (as if I gave a s*&t at that point). While I was trying to get him the carseat in this state (I'm trying to buckle him in and he's hitting me in the head with a sippy cup that I gave him to try and calm him) , the dentist came out to the parking lot and handed me a slip of paper with the name and number of a pediatric specialist who he thought would be a "better fit" for C - essentially a very nice way of saying "don't ever bring that child back in here again!"
It's been a long haul these past 4 years since we realized that C was on the spectrum, but I feel really good about how far he's come and where he's going. We've still got a lot to work on, but I feel like we've arrived in a good place - and a very different place from where we were a few years ago. For those of you with little ones, keep the faith!
Whew - that was the longest post I think I've ever written. Hope I didn't bore you all to tears LOL. Thanks for listening!
Your post is an inspiration for us to continue the hard work with our kids, knowing that there will be a pay off day. Yours was today.
Daddy
thankyou for sharing that story.... I am hanging on to every word of all success stories ! I need more of them
I also have to brush dylan's teeth, he does not let the Dr's look in his ears, I can only imagine the dentist ..... We have to get him started though, and your story is giving me courage.
God bless you
That's a beautiful story to hear, not boring at all. I'm so impressed with C!
I am dreading our first visit to the dentist. I'm sure my son will be 4 years old before we make it there!
I'm glad you took the time to share that with us! Mason is still like the 3yr old C at the dentist.
How great for you to be able to just leave the house and not worry about what you are forgetting!! I swear it takes longer to pack than it does at the actual place we are going sometimes!
C is making such remarkable progress...I am soooo happy for you. He is turning into such a little man, so willing to do things on his own and help Mom out!
Please keep the stories coming, I just love hearing them!!
And WTG C!! YAY!!
WOW!! What great progress he is making! I remember the days of toting everything and walking on pins & needles and bending over backwards trying to avoid meltdowns...we dont carry the "Sarah bag" no longer or hold our breath out in public like we used & actually almost blend in like normal..she still doesnt like Walmart:P
Sarah has gone to dentist 2x so far and she does well but she is so passive and as long as they are not hurting her she is okay:) I still have to brush her teeth at home though...she runs!
I am so happy for him being such a big boy and so thoughtful for the little baby girl:)
LIFE IS GOOD:)