More on our trip to the International Adoption Clinic:
Lil Bro’s always up for an adventure. When I told him we were going to the Dr. on Friday he said he didn’t want to go…until I told him that if he didn’t go he would go to daycare. Then he was all like, “When are we going to the doctor mom??” “I wanna go to the doctor now.” We arrived at the clinic and checked in at the desk. He spotted the dinosaur in the hall on the way in (see previous post). I promised he could see it when we were all done. In the lobby they have a play area with a big TV. It had Dora on - his favorite. There was another family there too, with a bigger boy...a wild one. He was spinning the giant wheel on the wall at mock speed. I hoped Lil Bro didn’t get too close; he’d probably lose a finger. Lil Bro hung back, keeping one eye on Dora and one on the wild child.
The wild child spotted us. He stopped spinning the wheel. He came up to Lil Bro, who had ventured closer to the TV. He came up to Lil Bro and pointed to his shirt…reached out and touched his shirt…and told us all he had that same shirt! Lil Bro stepped back. The boy repeated it, louder. Lil Bro retreated to a sofa next to my chair. I moved closer to Lil Bro and the wild child ran off, yelling down the halls with his mom a few feet behind, running. Lil Bro leaned into me and said, “He doesn’t have my shirt. This is my shirt. I have my shirt. He can’t have it.” I gave him a squeeze and told him not to worry. He just meant he had one LIKE it.
We were called in for our turn. I always feel like I’m under a microscope at the Int’l Adoption Clinic. Would they think there was an attachment problem if he was playing with the toy on the wall and not sitting by me when they came in the room? Would they think the same if he was cooperative during the exam? He always cooperates with doctors. I blame my family physician – he so good with him. The doc came in and everything went fine. She had a resident with her…and I couldn’t help but think of Grey’s Anatomy…except she didn’t look like an actress. And she took notes. They never take notes on Grey’s.
After discussing the issue I came in there for, the head and face rubbing, they sent in a therapist to show me some activities and exercises I could do with him. She asked me if he liked swinging on a swing set. Yes, he does…and then I wondered if that meant something. I worried she was picturing him sitting in a swing for hours, wanting more. That isn’t the case at all, of course. I was relieved when she said swinging and doing things like sliding and jumping on a trampoline are good for him. Another reason to buy a new trampoline, I thought. Ours blew away in a storm.
One of the activities she suggested involves giving his limbs “hugs”. Basically you apply pressure all the way around his limb with both hands, climbing up slowly. Starting with light pressure and then adding pressure but not hard. She demonstrated on my arm. Okay, that felt freakily good. She also gave me a sheet of activities to do with him. I left happy - with my sweet little boy bouncing along holding my hand and a sheet of paper in purse that will hopefully hold the key to some relief for him.
We drove the hour back to our home town so I could bring Lil Bro to daycare before heading to work. He told me he didn’t want to go to daycare. He wanted to go to “town”. I decided to stop at Walmart and see if they had a backpack he could bring with to daycare. Now that he goes to preschool, they are supposed to have a bag to put their papers in. We looked but they don’t have much to choose from now that the back-to-school rush is over. I suggested a Twins one. He declined. How about a Vikings one? They should be on clearance if you ask me, but no – they were the same price as the Twins. He declined that one as well. Smart boy, I thought. That was about all they had. We headed for the toy isles instead. He picked out a Lego’s set with some Cars characters in it.
When we left there he said he wanted to go to “town” again. I’m like where do you think “town” is? We’re in town. He said it was the town with the buildings in it. Yeah, again, I think we’re in town. I took him to McDonalds and got him some chicken and French fries instead. We sat in the car while he ate. Then I drove him to daycare. They were outside when we got there – all of their backpacks hanging on the fence. Lil Bro doesn’t care that he didn’t have one. I walked him out there, talked to his teacher and he went off to play. As I was pulling out of the parking lot I saw him running around with another little boy, laughing. He’ll be fine. I love that kid so much, it hurts.
No comments:
Post a Comment