Processing Speed

June 27, 2011 by Rieshy
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Around 5:30 this morning I was sitting and eating, well.... eating popcorn with my 3 year old.  We were munching in companionable silence when my son suddenly looked at me with a most intent expression.

"Mom, I was throwing up and Sister took me to the bathroom and then we lay on the sofa and I was still throwing up."  He paused awaiting a response.

I was more than a little floored.  He was talking about the stomach virus he had in March- a full 3 months ago.  It precipitated his first (hopefully only) metabolic meltdown.  I had already taken his 5 year old brother to the hospital and his big sister was caring for the 3 year old because Dad was sick with the same virus.

My 3 yo continued. His facial expressions filling in for his linguistic shortcomings as he narrated the entire event from his point of view.  Evidently the ambulance was noteworthy because they had "a pokey thing."  -The I.V. of course.

Why he needed to discuss this with me this morning I don't know.  I do know he needed it.  He needed to narrate the events.  He needed to talk about throwing up on the sofa and see my face look sad but not angry.  He needed to hear that, "Yep, those pokey things do hurt."

I don't know what else he needed.  I'm just glad that he's processing.

We looked at this snapshot from the hospital.  He told me that he liked me and Brother being with him. I think our conversation made the event less mysteriously frightening.  Of course, I'm guessing now.  Who knows what goes on in the mind of a 3 year old?

I'm just muddling through mothering the best I can.  Evidently a.m. popcorn helps.

March.


Today.




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4 comments:

Unknown said...

praying for you. it's so hard to be a mother...I'm glad you got to have that conversation. I'm also glad he's on a bike now.

Melanie said...

Processing is SOOOOO important! Who knows what sets it off, but all your kids are blessed to have a mother who listens and accepts. He needed what he needed and knew he could take the time to do it. And you were wonderful, I'm sure!

Dana K said...

Wow. It's so amazing how kids work through things. I'm not quite there with Klaw, yet.

Anonymous said...

At naptime today, my 5yo asked me about a minor character from a book we listened to a year ago (or longer?). He was very concerned about why that character did something that wasn't nice.

Their little brains and hearts are whirring constantly. What a blessing to be with them while the mental hourglass spins.

Grace,
The Wilsons in VA

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