Tuesday’s Fostering Blog
It had been a quiet and fairly uneventful start to the week away. We were staying in a beautiful cottage furnished with bespoke fixtures and fittings, in the middle of miles of woodland.
Like with many children with attachment disorder, after the first few days of being somewhere new, Alice began to let her guard down, was a little less hyper vigilant and started to push the boundaries. It began with little things. She would ask me for something which I would decline, and then immediately ask my friend for the same thing. When she didn’t get the answer she was looking for she began to have mini meltdowns. Up until now we had been able to distract her and the incidents soon blew over.
We did not know what we were in for when we left to visit a local country Park today. I realised when I made the picnic that I had mistakenly ordered the wrong tortilla wraps. I usually order white plain wraps but had mistakingly ordered ones with seeds in. I know that Alice has reluctantly eaten this variety before at school, but I could have predicted that today it would be different. It was like I had given her rocks to eat. She was livid! She threw the rap at me. Her anger levels went from 0 to 100 in two seconds and she totally lost control of herself in the park with everyone watching. It is amazing that when someone starts screaming how quickly you draw in a crowd! We all tried to ignore her behaviour but to be honest it was getting a little uncomfortable. My friend sensing my unease of the situation took Alice back to the car for some time out, and the the rest of us continued our picnic and went to play in the park area
After nearly an hour of screaming Alice returned back to the park and joined in with the fun – as though nothing had happened. It’s amazing how quickly she moves on and forgets what for us is such a significant event. I have to admit is is hard to just move on and forget what has just taken place. But for the sake of Annie and Lauren and having a good end to the holiday, I swallow hard, smile and help Alice onto the play equipment in the park.
A Less Ordinary Family Blog
