During the summer, I decided to take a step back and really watch and listen to my son. There is always so much noise in our daily lives and we can’t seem to escape it. It’s everywhere.
We are at home and the TV is on. Someone is listening to music or talking to someone else on the phone. The phone rings. The dog barks. The list goes on and on. We go out to a store and there is more noise. The traffic is noisy. School is noisy. Everywhere just seems so noisy. Even going to the beach is noisy at busy times.
I realized that our son thrives on quiet, peaceful places. I do too. He enjoys being able to just be. Up until this summer. I didn’t truly understand this fully. When I watch him and I am with him, I realize how much fun we have just doing nothing at all. We could be at our cottage swimming or laying on the dock (my personal favorite) or canoeing and it’s just heavenly! I thing re-grouping and just being sometimes is very important.
As I watched him this summer, I noticed how relaxed he was becoming just being able to be. . . and how much more he wanted to do the fun noisy activities after he had a chance to just be.
I noticed that when there is too much going on that his coping mechanism is to retreat from the activity.
I think we our son there has to be a good balance. In order for him to be able to engage and participate, he needs his time. It’s incredibly important and I vow to make this part of his daily routine going forward.
Shelly Wedge 