Watch your head

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Because Rhema is preverbal I am often delighted and amused to get a glimpse of what she understands, to see how she sees the world.

She has such a sense of order.

Like many ASD children she thrives on predictability and routine.

And when she gets something, she gets it. And she sticks to it. Here’s one example. At school, she has learned to clean up after eating lunch. Throw away napkins, wrappers, etc. At home that translates into clean up everything. She happily dumps her napkin, plate and utensils in the trash can. She’ll even help by throwing away everyone else’s silverware. I have lost more spoons than I can count.

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So I have a bunch of those hair claw things.

Even when my hair is down, I’ll stick one on the side of my head should the need arise to put it up.

(I’m sure this is a fashion don’t so if anyone wants to nominate me for What Not To Wear, feel free.)

Whenever Rhema finds a hair claw in the house, she stops what she is doing, finds me, and without a word clamps it in my hair. It doesn’t matter if I already have one in my hair. She associates these clips with me, and I love it! I love that she noticed. I love that she is being “helpful” by ensuring my hair is in constant supply of hair clips.

So when we were at the playground recently and she spotted a woman with a hair claw… well, you know where this is going…

(And the plot thickens.)

Out of nowhere, unsuspecting, hair-claw-wearing woman is jumped by a 7 year-old kid.

Kid snatches the clip out of bewildered woman’s head and races off.

Said kid runs urgently toward mother.

The mother fights the impulse to run the other way, pretend she doesn’t know said kid.

Kid scrambles up her mother, affixes the clip on the top of mother’s head.

There.

Satisfied that the world is as it should be, kid takes off for the monkey bars.

Leaving mother wondering how she’s going to explain this one with a straight face… 🙂

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