hoping
Another night of dinner at the pool. If it sounds like we eat there every night, it’s true…almost. It is just sooo much easier for me, no cooking, no cleaning up, happy girls, and the food is good, too. Being able to have meals there during the summer literally saved my life when the girls were younger—there was really no other place we could safely and comfortably eat out with three two year olds.
But back to tonight. I didn’t see what had happened, but Cinderella ran up to me crying. Apparently, another little boy, a six year old, had thrown ice at her back. She wasn’t hurt, just upset. What I should do in response was unclear: do I talk to the boy or to his mom or just comfort my daughter?
Well, S. Judy knew what to do. She grabbed a handful of ice herself and ran after boy, shouting his name. He turned to face her. She raised her fist full of ice threateningly and gave him a mouthful about not throwing ice at her sister.
Again, I didn’t know what to do. The boy was bigger and older. Then he turned and ran into the men’s locker room, knowing that S. Judy wouldn’t follow him there.
Sometimes people ask me if my triplets stick up for each other. The answer is yes, but S. Judy takes on that role the most often.
She also, it so happens, wears hearing aids for mild-moderate bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. The aids are difficult to spot under her long, curly chestnut hair, and her speech is clear enough that most people don’t notice any issue. We are counting on her assertiveness and physical strength to work to her advantage.
For example, we are hoping that the ease with which she acquires new athletic skills—she was the first of my trio to ice skate, swim, and ride a bike—will lay a foundation from which she can draw confidence when/if she struggles with some hearing-related task, like learning to read.
And, we are thinking that her self-assurance will help her out, too. I was so impressed as I watched her participate by raising her hand to answer questions and offer observations during weekly presentations offered by our local library as part of its summer reading program. Among a group of 25 kids, most several years older, S. Judy almost always had her hand raised. It got to the point that Cinderella, sitting next to her, would quickly, casually, and inconspicuously pull her sister’s arm down whenever she noticed S. Judy was the only kid with an arm up. But, though spoken softly, S. Judy’s answers and comments when called upon were consistently on-topic and age-appropriate.
Might I add, hysterical? When a presenter from a natural history museum held up a menacing skull (it was in reality just a cow skull) and asked the group what they would tell others if they came across this skull, S. Judy answered, “Run for your life!”
My father believes that inevitably one day she will be the butt of jokes or teasing from kids at school…and he hopes that the first time someone calls her a name she punches him or her right in the nose. I’m not saying I hope for that, too, but I will say that it is absolutely possible and it wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen.
But back to tonight. I didn’t see what had happened, but Cinderella ran up to me crying. Apparently, another little boy, a six year old, had thrown ice at her back. She wasn’t hurt, just upset. What I should do in response was unclear: do I talk to the boy or to his mom or just comfort my daughter?
Well, S. Judy knew what to do. She grabbed a handful of ice herself and ran after boy, shouting his name. He turned to face her. She raised her fist full of ice threateningly and gave him a mouthful about not throwing ice at her sister.
Again, I didn’t know what to do. The boy was bigger and older. Then he turned and ran into the men’s locker room, knowing that S. Judy wouldn’t follow him there.
Sometimes people ask me if my triplets stick up for each other. The answer is yes, but S. Judy takes on that role the most often.
She also, it so happens, wears hearing aids for mild-moderate bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. The aids are difficult to spot under her long, curly chestnut hair, and her speech is clear enough that most people don’t notice any issue. We are counting on her assertiveness and physical strength to work to her advantage.
For example, we are hoping that the ease with which she acquires new athletic skills—she was the first of my trio to ice skate, swim, and ride a bike—will lay a foundation from which she can draw confidence when/if she struggles with some hearing-related task, like learning to read.
And, we are thinking that her self-assurance will help her out, too. I was so impressed as I watched her participate by raising her hand to answer questions and offer observations during weekly presentations offered by our local library as part of its summer reading program. Among a group of 25 kids, most several years older, S. Judy almost always had her hand raised. It got to the point that Cinderella, sitting next to her, would quickly, casually, and inconspicuously pull her sister’s arm down whenever she noticed S. Judy was the only kid with an arm up. But, though spoken softly, S. Judy’s answers and comments when called upon were consistently on-topic and age-appropriate.
Might I add, hysterical? When a presenter from a natural history museum held up a menacing skull (it was in reality just a cow skull) and asked the group what they would tell others if they came across this skull, S. Judy answered, “Run for your life!”
My father believes that inevitably one day she will be the butt of jokes or teasing from kids at school…and he hopes that the first time someone calls her a name she punches him or her right in the nose. I’m not saying I hope for that, too, but I will say that it is absolutely possible and it wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen.
posted by kim at 6:35 PM
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