Play "Therapy"

Having 1 child at home is easy, the 4th time around :) Avery has quickly adapted to being an only child, in the mornings. Now the trick is convincing her she is NOT one, in the afternoons and weekends! It's not been pretty. Our mornings are drastically different than our afternoons and both of us struggle at times to adjust to the pace and the noise.

I am loving the pace of life right now. A LOT of its very intentional on my part. It's been SO good for my heart, body and mind. I am exercising again, 3x a week!!! I am taking time to read a lot more. Bits of scripture in the morning, afternoon and evening and fiction books. I am back at Wellspring, my church's women's bible study which is such a joy and a treat.

Most of all, I am spending quality and quantity of time with this beautiful girl. We have 2 mornings each week without school or bible study. Which doesn't seem like much BUT I am realizing that most days we have plenty of afternoon time too, bc she doesn't nap everyday and her quiet time doesn't last as long as I'd sometimes like ;)

One thing you may already know, is that my girl doesn't stop moving and she doesn't "play" especially not by herself. She does a lot of wandering around and getting into mischief. A deadly combination if I "need" to get something done. Her attention span is growing, but it still requires a lot of help with the attention of an adult. To help my sanity, I have created a box (on the bottom of the shelf behind her in this picture) with labelled zip-loc bags of pres-school/sensory type activities. When she and I have free time or make free time she heads straight to her box. My hope is that eventually she will play with these things on her own!

 

Most of the items we already owned, I just packaged them a little different or added things to make them more age appropriate. These puzzle pictures are her favorite and she is now doing them without my help!

Thanks to my mom's suggestion I found a way to keep my petite one's feet on the floor. She uses a stool as a table and a chair ;)

Mom and I are fairly certain a lot of her emotional struggles are a result of sensory processing issues. I am trying to address that in our play time as well.

This bouncy bull is one way I can keep my fidgety girl on task as she learns her colors

We are also experimenting with Therapeutic Listening. She is not totally on board with wearing the special headphones, but if I sit with her and play she is happy. They look extra ridiculous because I added a washcloth to give her a snugger fit.

This time "sitting" with her is challenging for me. I don't sit much during the day and I can think of lots of other things I could be doing. It's a lesson for me, in self-control just as much as it is for her. We are bonding more and more every day. She is definitely benefitting from having me one-on-one. There is SO much for her to learn that my other 3 learned naturally. I am thankful for this new time in my schedule with 3 in school and I pray we see the benefits and if not, that we trust God's plan for her in her struggles.