Time out

This is one of those times I’m going to take a break from talking about autism.  This time it’s about my dear daughter.

My daughter was in a grumpy mood this morning.  There was a 2-hour delay for teacher in-service, and she really wanted to stay home all day, I think.  Plus, she wanted me to make her breakfast (a peanut butter and jelly on toast), she wanted to eat her sandwich in front of the tv, and she wanted me to pamper her, all while she laid on the couch under her soft blankie.

I informed her otherwise. She had to make her own sandwich (working on stepping up the self sufficiency), no eating messy sandwiches in front of the tv, and no pampering… not this morning, anyway.

She proceeded to be very angry with me and yell, stomp, tell me that she’s tired of dealing with me, I never do what she wants me to do. (She sounded like a mini version of her 15 year old brother.)  I managed to keep my frustration under control and calmly sent her up to her room for a  time out.

As her time out was coming to an end, I started to go upstairs to her room, where she was hopefully simmering down.  I heard her bedroom door slam shut.  As I approached her door, I had to stifle a laugh. On her door, which we had previously painted with dry erase paint, she had drawn a picture:

Photo by Elizabeth Givler

It’s an angry stick figure with the words “I am not happy” written above.  I refrained from laughing loud and went to my room to laugh quietly by myself.  Then went back to take a picture :-).  Here’s a close up view:

Photo by Elizabeth Givler

I knocked on the door, she let me in, and we talked.   I explained that since she’s 7, she can make her own sandwich.  Sometimes responsibilities mean that we have to give up something we want to do for a little while in order to do what really needs to be done.  She thought about that, and then we hugged.  She changed the picture:

Photo by Elizabeth Givler

She erased the word “not”, and added a pink smiley face.  After all, pink is her favorite color!

I realize this post isn’t about celebrating the differences.  It is about family life.  I do want to point out that I think she got this idea from our feeling chart on the fridge.  We used to use something similar to help the boys understand feelings.  Meg now likes to gauge her own feelings on the feeling chart.  And she let me know in no uncertain terms how she felt by drawing a demo.

I wonder if this could go along with “inclusion.”  Sometimes, or dare I say most of the time, the things we use to help those who have “disabilities” are beneficial for all people.

How are you feeling?