Swimming....Just keep Swimming

So yesterday Monkey had ‘play therapy’ (to help with all the adjustments he’s endured lately that his little body and mind can’t seem to wrap around) ANYHOW~~

There is a lot of ‘people’ at play therapy—little people—figurines… one has been marked as ‘mommy’, one as “Monkey” and one was “WoWzer” as well as everyone else in our lives… there’s also a sandbox and lots of ‘accessories’ for him to act things out with…

We started out in the ‘dollhouse’ and then in the car and finally we made it across the room to the sandbox which is referred to as ‘the beach’ (we've NEVER been to the beach but Monkey is DYING to go to one) So he starts taking all the figurines to the beach… his counselor looks over at his playing and whispers to me, “They’re all placed face down in the sand” the look of shock and horror made me get up and look into the sandbox—I was met with a “GO sit, Monkey playing!!” so I sat back down and agreed it was a bit spooky.  His counselor told me it was a little unsettling- there was only one figurine that wasn't face down and was in a chair it was “Daddy”… who’s daddy?? I HAVE NO CLUE!!! She kind of laughed when she said it made her think of a serial killer who collected bodies in the backyard… Yeah great way to make me comfortable about living w/him!! J J But it disturbed me as well- especially since I wasn't allowed over there to play.

Eventually mommy, Monkey and WoWzer went home while everyone else stayed face down in the sand at the beach… he did let me help him clean up when it was time to go~~ so I thought that was progress.

After session we were in the car as he enjoyed a Mango Smoothie and some French fries- I asked him “So, Monkey Boy… at Ms. C’s when you were playing with the people at the beach, what were they doing??”

“They was in da water” he replied between slurps of smoothie goodness.

“They were in the water? Were they swimming??” I asked anxiously awaiting the reply.

He looked at me like I was Fifty Shades of CRAZY, “Uh, YEAH- dey swimming” was the smart, sarcastically toned reply I got. 

THANK GOD!! He wasn’t plotting to kill me, just to let me drowned!! I feel much better about that!!

Today I called his counselor to let her know his explanation and she was also relieved…

But got me thinking—how often do we misinterpret things?? In his mind, in his imagination there was water in the box as well as sand—but how were we to know that?? How many times have you seen a child misbehaving in the store and thought it was bad parenting or just a ‘spoiled brat’? Or seen a child wearing a dirty worn shirt and thought their parents don’t care or they were poor?? Or seen a child in a restaurant under the table and thought their parents needed to gain control?? How many things have we misinterpreted??

Without knowing the full story we can only judge and it’s usually negatively—have you ever stopped to consider that misbehaving child is hungry or cold or wet and has no other way to communicate that need—even though they look 6-7 maybe they’re nonverbal and can’t just talk and tell mom what’s up, instead they scream… Or that the child in the dirty shirt refuses to wear anything else~ that maybe that shirt is their security and rather than upset them before an outing, mom lets them wear it—and maybe that little dark headed boy with the big brown eyes is totally overwhelmed by the noise level, smells, and sights in the restaurant and has sought solace under the table- where he’s not disturbing anyone but feels secure….

I suppose my thought for today is unless you know all the facts, don’t judge~~~ it could lead you to be stuck with your head in the sand when you could be swimming…

Hope every one of my pretties has a wonderful weekend!!

S~S