Sweeping Up Fears
A couple of months ago I blogged about how Gess is such a good helper with the laundry and chores. During chore time she will make the beds, put things away, fold the laundry and even sweep the kitchen floor. Well recently she has also been helping with something else. The vacuuming!
Just look at her go! She is actually pretty thorough although I do need to teach her how to get around the edges. (I need to help her do that when sweeping the kitchen with a broom too.) So, what's so great about being able to vacuum you might wonder? It's Gesserine's fear and disdain for anything loud!
When Gess was a baby she had tubes put in her ears because she had so much fluid built up she could not hear very well. Once she had those in and could hear better, she became totally frightened of the vacuum. I had to do all my vacuuming when she was asleep. As she got older I would warn her when I was about to start and she would leave the room and start holding her ears even when it was not yet plugged in.
One day I picked up a kids vacuum at a garage sale. It made real noises and was similar to the one we had at the time. It was sort of like this one.
After awhile she started to play with it on her own. And eventually, slowly, she began to become comfortable with it Then, the more she became familiar with her own vacuum the more she started becoming comfortable and accepting of mine as well. She finally did not need to leave the room anymore when I vacuumed. She was alright to sit and watch, although sometimes she would still hold her ears.
Then one day I noticed she was right next to me with her own vacuum! It was awesome to watch her pretending to do it while I was running mine. The fear was really gone. And now that she's older, she doesn't play vacuuming anymore, she actually does it, and pretty well I might add! Yep, that's my girl there, acting as if this is just some normal activity that she does every day!
Actually it is a normal, every day activity for her now. As a mother of a child with special needs, I have learned that those are the moments I love best. To watch Gess work so diligently to do something that comes so naturally and easy for other children and then finally do it, well there's just nothing better than that!
Just look at her go! She is actually pretty thorough although I do need to teach her how to get around the edges. (I need to help her do that when sweeping the kitchen with a broom too.) So, what's so great about being able to vacuum you might wonder? It's Gesserine's fear and disdain for anything loud!
When Gess was a baby she had tubes put in her ears because she had so much fluid built up she could not hear very well. Once she had those in and could hear better, she became totally frightened of the vacuum. I had to do all my vacuuming when she was asleep. As she got older I would warn her when I was about to start and she would leave the room and start holding her ears even when it was not yet plugged in.
One day I picked up a kids vacuum at a garage sale. It made real noises and was similar to the one we had at the time. It was sort of like this one.
After awhile she started to play with it on her own. And eventually, slowly, she began to become comfortable with it Then, the more she became familiar with her own vacuum the more she started becoming comfortable and accepting of mine as well. She finally did not need to leave the room anymore when I vacuumed. She was alright to sit and watch, although sometimes she would still hold her ears.
Then one day I noticed she was right next to me with her own vacuum! It was awesome to watch her pretending to do it while I was running mine. The fear was really gone. And now that she's older, she doesn't play vacuuming anymore, she actually does it, and pretty well I might add! Yep, that's my girl there, acting as if this is just some normal activity that she does every day!
Actually it is a normal, every day activity for her now. As a mother of a child with special needs, I have learned that those are the moments I love best. To watch Gess work so diligently to do something that comes so naturally and easy for other children and then finally do it, well there's just nothing better than that!
Comments