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Marcie's Diary Entries Diary Navigation: Choose A Diary Entry -------------------- Latest Entry: 8/26/99 -------------------- 8/19/99 8/10/99 8/5/99 8/5/99 7/29/99 7/27/99 7/15/99 -------------------- Marcie's Introduction

July 15, 1999

Well, it has been crazy around here lately. My husband's parents and sister are coming to town in a few weeks, and then my dad is coming for a visit. All of them live out of state, and we don't see them very often. In fact, each family has only seen Justin one time since his birth. I know that my dad will accept Justin for who he is, but I worry about how my husband's parents and sister will react when they finally see how he is behind. My husband's family is very judgmental. They tend to have HUGE misconceptions about how you should parent your kids.

When I told my husband's sister about how we were teaching Justin sign-language, she thought I should get another doctor's opinion because "wouldn't it make him an outcast among his peers and why make him feel different?" Well, he is different (something he shouldn't be ashamed of), and he is having trouble communicating. I told her that his not being able to talk would probably make him feel like more of an outcast (and then I pointed out how most kids think sign language is very interesting).

As you can see, I am very sensitive to what people think about my kids. I try not to be, but it is hard. Especially when we have done things differently from "traditional" parenting....Justin was nursed until he weaned himself, we have a family bed, I work from home while caring for the kids, we don't force potty-training, etc.

OK, enough on the in-laws! ;-) Our family specialist gives us a homework assignment based on what we tell her we are having problems with that week. Last week, we were supposed to help Justin understand the concept of finishing a task before receiving something or moving to another task. So, we were instructed to always say, "First we_______THEN we can________." I found lots of ways to incorporate it into daily life (First we put peanut butter on, then we can put the jelly on...first mommy puts on this shoe, then mommy can put on the other shoe, etc.) We are doing this because he has a freak-out when he wants a bath before cleaning up the blocks, or when he wants more applesauce before he finishes his chicken--almost everything is a battle. Since we started this constant, "First, then" thing, though, we have noticed a difference!

Our specialist comes again next week (she was gone this week), so I will fill you all in on how next week's assignment is going in my next entry!

Marcie