Ruby undergoes systematic desensitization therapy
Ruby is afraid of many things.
First we discovered that she is afraid of the vacuum cleaner when it is on. No big surprise there, lots of kids are afraid of things that make big noises.
Then we discovered that she is afraid of grass. If I try to set her down in grass, she will raise her feet up to avoid having to step in it. If I lower her far enough that she has no choice but to touch it, she will only stand on one foot (holding on to me, of course) with her other foot raised up, like a flamingo. The other day, we wanted to set Ruby down somewhere safe where we could see her while we worked on the garden in the backyard. We put her on a blanket in the backyard, and sure enough, she never left the blanket. I saw her scouting the edges trying to find an escape through something that was not grass. She stayed on the blanket for about 45 minutes, until finally she began crying in earnest, and we rescued her.
We also discovered that she was afraid of sand. We found this out in Duck, NC. She has a similar reaction to it as with grass.
Then, my mother discovered that she is afraid to touch very crusty breads. Yes, you read that correctly. We went to the Cheesecake Factory, and my mother let her hold one of the rolls that they give you while you're waiting for your food to cook, and she looked at it with concern, and thereafter refused to hold it.
Finally, this past weekend I discovered that she is afraid of the garden hose when the water is coming out. She cried when I was watering the plants while I held her with the other arm. Then, another day when Dad was watering the plants, she watched from the screen door and cried at him.
So now, I am starting a process of letting her know that all of these things are actually safe. Which leads me to this picture:
We went to a state park and my brother held her hands while helping her walk in the sand. You can see that she was not enjoying it at first. But later she realized it was not so bad, and she started enjoying herself.
The next task is going to be grass. I tried it two days ago, and it didn't work. She cried.
First we discovered that she is afraid of the vacuum cleaner when it is on. No big surprise there, lots of kids are afraid of things that make big noises.
Then we discovered that she is afraid of grass. If I try to set her down in grass, she will raise her feet up to avoid having to step in it. If I lower her far enough that she has no choice but to touch it, she will only stand on one foot (holding on to me, of course) with her other foot raised up, like a flamingo. The other day, we wanted to set Ruby down somewhere safe where we could see her while we worked on the garden in the backyard. We put her on a blanket in the backyard, and sure enough, she never left the blanket. I saw her scouting the edges trying to find an escape through something that was not grass. She stayed on the blanket for about 45 minutes, until finally she began crying in earnest, and we rescued her.
We also discovered that she was afraid of sand. We found this out in Duck, NC. She has a similar reaction to it as with grass.
Then, my mother discovered that she is afraid to touch very crusty breads. Yes, you read that correctly. We went to the Cheesecake Factory, and my mother let her hold one of the rolls that they give you while you're waiting for your food to cook, and she looked at it with concern, and thereafter refused to hold it.
Finally, this past weekend I discovered that she is afraid of the garden hose when the water is coming out. She cried when I was watering the plants while I held her with the other arm. Then, another day when Dad was watering the plants, she watched from the screen door and cried at him.
So now, I am starting a process of letting her know that all of these things are actually safe. Which leads me to this picture:
We went to a state park and my brother held her hands while helping her walk in the sand. You can see that she was not enjoying it at first. But later she realized it was not so bad, and she started enjoying herself.
The next task is going to be grass. I tried it two days ago, and it didn't work. She cried.
posted by Mommy @ 7:51 PM
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