I have had a few wins to celebrate in the last week. These are wins that for many just seem like typical things any kid can do but for Mars they have taken longer to be able to achieve or to follow through.
And it is funny as we don’t always realise how much he has progressed until all of a sudden we stop and think “hey we haven’t had to clean up water or hover ready to catch Mars’ drink bottle before he throws it, for a few weeks now!” and my husband and I can high five and fist bump because we realise he is having a drink and putting his drink bottle back at the table. And SOMETIMES even puts the lid back on, which is just amazing!!
It’s these little things that remind us of how far we have come, and that all that is hard right now will eventually get easier, but it truly feels like we are in the thick of the hardness right now with Mars being 4.5 years old.
So the win I want to share is something that we have been working on for an entire year, and has expanded into a double whammy of wins!
Last July I set a goal with Mars’ early intervention teacher for Mars to be able to get himself undressed and into the bath by himself. He could get himself undressed, and he could get himself into the bath … just not at bath time. It seems he had a mindset of ‘my mum helps me get undressed and lifts me into the bath’ and he couldn’t get past this. But he has!
Every single day I would talk to him about taking his t-shirt of etc and asking him to give it a go, but it never happened. We did get to a point where sometimes he would climb into the bath himself, but just no luck when it came to getting undressed.
Last week, as usual I asked him to take his t-shirt off, and he just did. I was quite literally speechless for a moment. He got himself undressed fully and climbed into the bath. After consistently doing this for 3 consecutive days, I asked him to put his clothes in the laundry basket, and this is that double whammy, he did! And each night he now puts his dirty clothes in the laundry.
One whole year to reach this point, and worth every attempt at trying. The joy on mine and Mars’ face when he had accomplished this task was incredible and I don’t think I will ever forget that moment. I will use it as a reminder that these tasks that are menial to most can and will be achieved.
📷 Pătrașcu Bianca - Pexels