Taking a Little "Break"

When we signed Dominic up for baseball through a special needs sports league, we had high hopes that it would be a good "fit."

 

Well, he did fine the first game, but the second game he cried through most it.  I mostly attributed it to him having been up since 4:30 a.m. that morning and having seen a few gnats and mosquitoes (he is terrified of any kind of "bug").  The week prior to the third game, he kept telling me, "take a little break from baseball" at least once a day. Think he was trying to tell me something?!?!?!  I told him before we drove to the field, that we would try it one more time and if he really wasn't enjoying himself, he didn't have to go anymore.  Shortly after we got to the field, he saw a mosquito.  Well, that was it.  He walked off the field and started crying. We encouraged him to take his turn at bat and in the field. Lauren even went out to the field with him and so did his "buddy" (who was extremely patient with him). After an inning and a half, he really wanted to leave, so we did.  It was kind of disappointing, but the hubby, Lauren and I agreed that we really needed to go. He was having absolutely no fun and we didn't want him to ruin it for the rest of the players.  After discussing it with Dominic, we decided that he did indeed need a little "break" from baseball, so I e-mailed the coach and let her knew what was going on. Oh, well, maybe it's time to try an INSIDE sport, like floor hockey or basketball :) This past Sunday, we got some free tickets to the local zoo, so we decided to give that a try.

He did fine for a little while, but then he saw some type of "bug" and took off ahead of us (walking really fast), saying he wanted to go home.  It wouldn't have been that big of a deal, but he had both hands over his ears and wasn't listening to us! I was afraid he might run into the street or knock somebody down. That night, when I was helping him take a bath, I asked him why he didn't like the zoo.  He said, "I don't like bugs." Well, glad that's cleared up! Getting Dominic potty trained has definitely been a really long (and continuing)  process.  For the two weeks prior to the end of the school year, Dominic started having accidents at home. He would be fine out and about, but at home he wasn't getting to the bathroom in time. He was having an average of three accidents a day. When I tried asking him why he didn't want to go to the potty at home, he kept saying, "take a break." Lauren and I asked him what he wanted to take a break from. Dominic responded back, "the potty!"  I attempted to explain to Dominic that using the potty was something he was going to have to do for the rest of his life.  He put a hand over one of his ears and started humming. That's what he does when I'm telling him something he doesn't want to hear.  I decided a different approach was to not make a big deal about it and just keep giving him positive encouragement. Yesterday, Lauren and I were slapping him high-fives and making a HUGE deal out of the fact that he stayed dry all day!!! That seemed to work, he didn't really have any accidents!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Dominic taking a little "break" from being fully potty trained at home doesn't last too long. Wish us luck!!