Wednesday, December 1, 2010

I'm Not The Only One With A List

I love lists. I've discussed this before. Apparently these things are somewhat hereditary.

Mister Man sometimes has difficulty with transitions as a part of his autism. We've developed a number of strategies - some on our own through trial and error and some recommended by therapists - that seem to help him. The other night, we had a rather interesting conversation as I was trying to get him to move onto bedtime.

But Moooooooooom (when he breaks out the whining, you know he's really tired or hungry, and it's time to take action!) I was just about to start playing with my dinosaurs.

I understand that, Kiddo, but it's bedtime now, I calmly, but firmly explained.

But Mooooooooooom, when can I play them then?

I'm pretty sure they'll be here tomorrow, and you can certainly play with them when you get home from school. How does that sound?

But what if I forget that I want to play with them?

Really? Seriously? Reeeeeealllly? Well, if you forget that you wanted to play with them, I'm guessing it won't be that big a deal at that point in time, and you'll find something else that you'll want to do more, I explained what I thought was a fairly logical assumption. And I really did try to hold the sarcasm back; in fact, my husband commended me on it later. I think he was serious.

But then I'll forget and I won't have played with them, and I really want to play with them. Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom, he was starting to wear on me juuuust a little bit.

Well, what if you write it down on our handy dandy whiteboard so you don't forget you want to play with them tomorrow?

Mom. That's brilliant!


And it was. And he played with them the next day and was happy. The end.



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8 comments:

Melisa Wells December 1, 2010 at 10:06 PM  

Love it!!!

(That happened in my house too. Duh.)

Susie December 2, 2010 at 6:21 AM  

My youngest has the same problem with transitions. I guess patience is the key, right?

Michelle December 2, 2010 at 8:07 PM  

Melisa - Why am I not surprised?

Susie - Patience... and a lot of active parenting, I think!

Tara R. December 3, 2010 at 9:03 AM  

I love this! I make lists a lot too, now if I can only remember where I put them.

Holly W December 3, 2010 at 8:05 PM  

I love it not only when a crisis is averted but when one is recognized as a brilliant mother.
Success!

septembermom December 3, 2010 at 9:29 PM  

I knew that you had all that brilliance!!!

One Petal At A Time December 5, 2010 at 1:54 AM  

Nice way to remember things. I also like making lists because it makes it easier to go shopping, running errands, etc. That way I dont forget.

Michelle December 6, 2010 at 6:33 PM  

Holly - Being recognized as a brilliant mother never happens. That's why this one needs to be saved for posterity!

Kelly - You are too kind, but ... you're right. I'm really modest, too ;)

One Petal At A Time - I adore lists. I use them for everything, including remembering what I was going to blog on.

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