Leaky trailer

TM has created a pretty wonderful slide show, complete with music, with our vacation photos. I can't wait to share it with you... which I'll do as soon as we can get to someplace with wi-fi so we can upload the thing to Blogger. Our spotty internet hot spots do the trick for regular internet use, but they are not much good for uploading large files. As soon we can get it figured out, I'll share it. In the meantime...

M. has been dutifully working on the trailer in our back yard for the past month now. Things are pretty much gutted, and some new insulation and windows and framing have begun to go in. Except for one corner. That corner leaks, and despite all attempts, is still leaking a little bit in the rain. Just when M. thought everything was sealed and good to go, so the actual construction could start, another small leak appeared. It is very, very frustrating!

I've been thinking about this, and M.'s leaky trailer reminds me a lot of R. these days. We have seen little, tiny bits of progress, and a whole lot of stasis, which means a whole lot of disassociation. That is frustrating in and of itself. But the fact that I am thinking we will start to work on learning the letters of her name this year for school tells me that some progress must be being made, because I would never have dreamed of attempting such a feat this time last year.

So, this vaguely hopeful state of mind is where I was in regards to R. when we left for Michigan. And then something happened, that made me feel like M. did when the leak in the trailer was discovered. Completely deflated that all of the hidden history of the trailer had not been completely addressed, and instead of moving forward, more repairs needed to be made.

We were sitting on the porch enjoying the lovely weather, R. and I. She mentions that she hears a bird. Being the good preschool mom that I am, I chirpily ask her to point to where she hears things. I then clarified my question even more, to make sure she understood. Notice I didn't even ask for the word because I was 100% sure she wouldn't be able to come up with the word 'ears' unaided. She grins at me, and says, "Bird!" I think, oh, she is thinking I'm asking what she is hearing, so I clarify my question even more. She points to her forehead. I inwardly wilt. I shouldn't really be surprised that she has no conception of matching body part to sense, but I was. When I covered her ears, to show how they help her hear, she starts to shriek at the novelty of the feeling. (She shrieks at every novelty.) And just when I had started to think I had identified all of the delays and difficulties and missing pieces, a very basic one comes and slaps me in the face.

Will we never have an end to finding leaks?

So now, I'm contemplating how to turn our Mr. Potato Head toy into a 'learn the senses' activity box. Of course, I envision laminated cards with it, but the details are still fuzzy in my head. Next week is school prep week, so once I get it all sorted out, I'll share it with you.