It's been a few weeks since Lindsey and I went to Arkansas to visit my dad and stepmom, and I need to circle back to tell a few stories about the trip. It was a good visit, always too short, and the weather totally didn't cooperate, the gray clouds, cold and rain followed us down from Minnesota. As we left Terry asked us to take it back with us, which it did.
My dad must think we are strange folk: you never met a pickier eater, a more city-oriented kid than Lindsey. She wrinkled her nose at the very words catfish, ribs, and anything outside of her norm of pasta, rice, meatballs and steak. When we got to my dad's he took us on a little tour of the grounds -- the minute we began walking down a path away from buildings she freaked out and refused to go any further, pulling strenuously on my arm to return to the safety of a building.
My dad loves the outdoors and is very comfortable in nature. He has the most incredible appreciation of all things natural, yet can kill wasps/hornets by flicking them with his fingers. (We got to see this in action during our visit.) Lindsey's favorite part of nature is...being able to go back inside and take shelter from it. Lindsey's favorite part of her grandpa's property was going over to the fence to visit with the neighbor's three dogs.
I had bought a couple of new little toys for Lindsey for the trip, one of which was Pixos. If you haven't seen it, they are small little round plastic balls that you can place on a tray in various patterns. Spray them with water, and they melt slightly and stick to each other for a permanent little piece of artwork. I knew that she loved Pixos, she has incredible patience with them, and was hoping they would keep her entertained for hours.
Yes and no.
Yes, they kept her occupied, but they also kept us occupied picking up and chasing after ridiculous little balls all over the hardwood floor. She insisted on certain colors being together/not together, over here, over there, re-organized, then messed up, then re-organized again. (You've met this child, right?)
By day two I finally banned the damn Pixos and pulled out the coloring book and crayons that Terry had bought for her. She immediately fixated on this coloring book and wanted to color for what seemed like hours on end...but only if I colored with her.
Bottom line, I did not get the free time to visit with my dad and Terry as I had hoped. And it was difficult being with Lindsey literally 24 hours -- we slept together in the same bed even, and she invariably woke me up once a night kicking me in her sleep.
Overall she was a really good kid, well behaved, but I forget how quirky her quirks are to others who don't know her as well. She has an orderly way about her, and because of that change is difficult and she really needed me by her for her own comfort. Definitely a different visit than what I was expecting.
Okay, enough about Lindsey's behavior on the trip, next post I'll share some pics of some of the fun things we did while we were there. Because despite my less than positive start to this story, we truly did have a really good time.
By the way. One of the valuable child raising behaviors I've been taught was by your Grandpa Tom. At Dana there was always the dock and the float tied up as an extension of the dock. Whenever Tom stopped working around the property you would find him on the float fishing. It didn't matter what he caught, it was just fishing.
ReplyDeleteThe grand kids could come anytime, stand by Grandpa, fish for a while and then when their minds became distracted put the pole down and go into shore and frolic with whatever grabbed their attention. He did not take them on fishing trips until they were ready. He didn't push them to come on the dock. He pretty much let them seek their own comfort level.
Lindsey's fear of nature probably comes from lack of familiarity. I grew up in a remote part of the country. My playground was deep woods and the shore of Lake Superior. I think if you just keep exposing her without pushing, if you just keep talking positive about the experience she'll overcome that. It is different, and her comfort zone won't permit complete immersion. Just keep dipping her toe, maybe she'll get used to the water.