THE MONKEY ON MY BACK
That kid on the Sixth Sense could see dead people... I can see little brown monkeys. They are everywhere. Monkeys eating bananas, monkeys on a freight ship, monkeys painting a penthouse suite... just monkeys!!!! Have you started to wonder where I am going with this? I get confused a lot and tend to drone on and on; on account of all the bloody, mind-numbing monkeys!
And I continue...
Kierra does not thrive on diversity. She loves consistency, predictability; the same old routine. Yes this is a huge problem with some of the kids on the autism spectrum. If they aren't sure what's happening next, they get a tad "annoyed". This is part of what we work on in therapy. She has a very structured day you knows. From 9-12 she has in-home therapy, and then from 1-3 she attends junior kindy for special needs children (mostly ASD kids). She probably works harder than most adults you'll ever meet. So when she comes home, I let her veg out. She's only four years old; we don't want a preschooler with ulcers and suffering from burnout. So every day she wants to do the same thing: get home from school, throw boots on my carpet, throw jacket on floor. Make sure the hall light is on, and then run to the television to see what is on. And you better hope it's not something like Oprah or Dr. Phil.
Case in point: Kierra LOVES the Curious George movie. Every single day; she has to watch this DVD. In fact, she doesn't even have to watch it - it just needs to be playing somewhere in the vicinity of my home. And you can't turn it off if she leaves the room - OH NO SIREE BOB!!! She has sonar or something and knows the exact milisecond you turn it off. And she'll come a running up to you and scream at you until you turn it back on. Now normally I wouldn't condone this sort of behavior. I mean she needs to settle down and realize it's not always about her. Lately she's pretty amicable about things: we can make deals with her whereas we never could before. Especially since her communication has improved over the past few months. But there is one thing she will not comprimise on and that's Curious George.
I can honestly say I hate that monkey. I hate hearing the theme song; which sometimes I sing to myself and then realize I'm doing it. I hate the man with the yellow hat. I don't even want to watch other movies with the voices of Will Ferrell and Drew Barrymore - can't blame them for doing the voice overs for the movie but I can't handle anything to do with Curious George. I could recite the entire movie word for word. Would it be entirely horrible if I "accidentally" scratched the entire surface of the DVD??????? Did I mention we also have numerous Curious George books and even a stuffed Curious George? This shit is bananas (a la Gwen Steffani).
It's more than likely a phase I'm sure. I mean we won't have to watch this movie until she moves out (will we?). So if anyone has a bottle of valium handy, or hey even some Jack Daniels... pass it over ok. Because there is only so much of a monkey any parent can take! Wait a minute, did that stuffed Curious George just wink at me????
4 comments:
Hey Elle..I really would like to chat with you about the whole Autism issue..if you get a chance email me please.
mikesimmers03@hotmail.com
thanks
Chrissy
I only have to deal with "The Monkey" on a limited basis. The girls watch the 30 minute show on PBS once or twice a day. However, I do have to watch "The Obnoxious Cat" much too often. My daughter Morgan watches "The Cat In The Hat" at least three times a week. I don't hate it, but Lord I wish she would pick Holly Hobbie or maybe even Strawberry Shortcake for a change.
I'm becoming more and more convinced that my son, Sean, is (on some level) autistic. He does the same thing. He just focuses on one movie for EVER... And anytime we need to change our routine we have to tell him about it over and over again. And he can quote you back the routine too!! And boy-howdy, if he wants something and we can't let him have it at that moment, we have to tell him "the deal" ("You go to bed, wake up, go to school, come home, eat lunch, take a nap, THEN get ice cream...that's the deal") in order for him to be ok. I can't wait til his appt in May!!!
(oh, thanks for the appreciation of my definition of a mom)
My daughter is obsessed with Curious George too! The movie, the tv show AND the soundtrack. She has a favourite song, "people watching" and it gets played ON REPEAT ALL DAY LONG!!! I go to bed humming it! :)
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