Big Little Wins

We’ve been having a really, really good week. 

It started on Thursday with Trick or Treating on Halloween. The kids enjoyed themselves so much that we were trick or treating for nearly 2 hours. I’ve never had this much candy in my house before. The kids don’t actually like a lot of candy so I’ve also never eaten this much candy before either (#noregrets). They put on their costumes with limited persuasion and we learned that Rory is an excellent, loud door knocker – a skill he is utilizing at home now too, much to my dismay.

On Friday I took Penny to the Optometrist, which I thought would be extremely stressful for both of us (given a past not-so-great experience) but it was fantastic. No crying. No stress. Our new Optometrist used simple language and didn’t try to force eye contact. She didn’t try to put Penny’s face in a machine and just waited for her to look where they needed her to look. We were in and out in about 15 minutes. Patience, understanding, and acceptance goes a long, long way.

To continue the medical theme, we had flu shots on Saturday morning for all four of us. I called ahead last week to explain that the kids struggle with crowds and line ups. Eastern Health arranged for us to go to the free clinic but get our own room. It went off without a hitch. We had a nurse in with us for 15 minutes and within the first 5 minutes she said of Rory, “He’s awful smiley and happy, isn’t he?” His personality really shines through – I love it. Last year I paid $20-25/shot to have someone come into our home to avoid the stress of the needles and to avoid public meltdowns, so I’m really happy to learn that there’s an inclusive, free alternative. (The lady who came in to our home was wonderful – I have no complaints.) 

Then, the most monumental thing for me happened last night: my daughter watched the movie Frozen with me.

It sounds silly, but I’ve been trying for 6 full years to get Penny to watch it. I somehow made it a goal in my head that I wanted her to watch that particular movie. It’s partly because I love that freaking movie and want an excuse to watch it, and partly because she loves princesses and I thought she’d enjoy it.

She’s never sat down for a full movie before. She refuses to watch anything on TV that she hasn’t picked out herself (rigidity at its finest). Also, her ADHD makes it hard for her to sit still or focus long enough to watch a full show, let alone a movie. 

A couple of days ago she must have been watching a YouTube video with Frozen in it and asked me to pretend to be Elsa, Anna, and Olaf – that was my cue to make her sit through 2 hours of it, obviously. But she did it! She thought Olaf was hilarious and actually cracked up laughing at some parts. It was magical. She did fall asleep at the end, but it was past her bedtime (because I hadn’t actually expected her to watch it when I put it on). 

It seems like such a weird thing to be monumental though, right? But I think of all the other things this could mean – we might be able to try a movie theatre soon (obviously a sensory hour – baby steps.) We’ve never been able to go to a movie theatre with the kids. We might be able to make movie nights a thing in our house. I loved those as a kid. (I don’t think Rory is quite ready for full movies yet, but I think he would at least hang out in the room with us.)

Movie nights at home and at theatres were something I was envisioning when I had kids. Sometimes it’s really hard to think that those things will never happen. And I’m sure there are countless things on that list of experiences I thought we’d be able to have and won’t (or at least haven’t yet) but I try not to focus on that. It’s not fair to the kids. So, I will celebrate the little wins, which are usually big wins to us and continue to make every day a party!

Now, I need to work my way through the Disney catalogue with her…