Today was a lovely sunshiney October Saturday. We had a birthday party to attend, and then to Pixieland.
P melted down at the end due to generally wishing it were *her* birthday, which manifested in wanting S's balloon. S managed very graciously, and P wanted to say sorry after we walked about a block. :) Then she fell in love with her lavender balloon as we walked a few more blocks to the car.
And then -- it slipped away. What a real loss! She cried and cried, and sobbed, "Come back, balloon! Come back!" I cuddled her closely after that. All afternoon, she talked about ways to find it. Ladder? Parachute? Fly? Finally accepting it was gone (it really was like stages of grief). Somehow I didn't want to replace it right away. But we did have to go to Trader Joe's, so we did happen to get another balloon. She was happy with it. But I think we had a good lesson today.
2 comments:
wrenching. And awe-inspiring your ability to be with her as she went through that. Saving her years of therapy down the road, I guarantee it!
:) It's been great-- after nearly 3 years, I'm starting to see her default to healthy reactions when she's sad/mad/etc-- she lets me come close even if she's upset at me or the situation. I think we're establishing a good pattern, much thanks to your loving example!
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