Be Careful What You Wish For

Good morning, my Lovelies! Welcome back to my land of chaos. All the ups and downs of living with a Princess with autism. Of living with a non-verbal child. It's a challenge, always having to figure out behaviors and the pitch of the cries to figure out exactly what is needed. You start do daydream after a while, about what it would be like  to have that child say anything. I'm here to tell you to be careful what you wish for.

I used to hear of these defiant days of "No!", of "I'll do it myself!" and everything else that came from the frazzled parents trying to maneuver around these obstacles to ultimately get the obstinate toddler to do whatever it was that he/she was resisting. I would think to myself, "At least you know what they need/want. I'd give anything to hear my Princess say ANY word. I would take a 'No!' in a heartbeat!"

So when I started hearing the word "No," in it's different variations, I really didn't think too much of it. Not more than the usual feeling of it's a new sound that she has discovered, she will over use it until it loses it's attractiveness and move on. I thought it was cute. Key word: thought.

Here's where I figured out it was more than a "passing phrase":

Picture it: Princess is throwing a fit, pounding her heels to the floor.

Me: "I don't care what the problem is, we do not solve it by pounding our heels on the floor! Go lay down!"

Princess: "No!"

Me: (Not quite sinking in yet) "NOW!"

Princess: "No!"

Me: (One more time, slowly sinking in) "I SAID NOW!" (This is where I'm slowly trying to hide my smile)

Princess: "No! No, no, no!"

OK, so now I'm simply trying to suppress my laughter, and my frustration all rolled into one. All I can think is "I'm pissed because she's back talking me. But oh my God, she's back talking me!" You see the conundrum?

It's a very bittersweet feeling, really. We haven't added any new words to our vocabulary yet. But you see, now she's realized we respond to "No," and uses it as a blanket word when she's upset and needs something. Though that is surely fading as well.

So with all of this, I leave you with the very sound (albeit, cliche) advice of "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it."