Session 2

TLO (the Little One)'s weekly therapy schedule for the next six months is Saturday, 2PM. I have decided to look at this episode in her life as the start of her schooling years. "We're going to school today, you will play with the kids and Teacher Mark" is just way better than "We're going to therapy today, they will try to fix your neurological responses through activities"

In the waiting area, TLO had a grand time flipping through the pages of what's available for parents to read... COSMO. Haha. Our little girl would pick up anything with colors and images.



A few minutes before 2PM, the kids at the waiting area started to get restless. They all want to go in. I totally understand why, and I would too if I were a patient... the place has so many toys, coloring books, puzzles, all the good colorful stuff. M A G I C. And the teachers look, sound, feel genuinely caring. Amidst raging kiddie hormones, Hubby and I wondered if we will still be allowed to join the session. We learned from some friends that at some point, parents are kicked out of the sessions because their presence becomes counterproductive to the objectives of the therapy.

While we knew this painful possibility, we were still shocked when Teacher Mark said that starting today, we will no longer be allowed to enter Magic Land. He fetched TLO at 2PM and the little girl initially didn't want to go with him. Teacher Mark then asked one of us to walk TLO to the door of Magic Land. Hubby nominated me.

The moment the door to Magic Land opened, TLO entered. And didn't even look back. So this is how it will be like when she first decides to live independently, or get married, or disown me for being weird. Ouch. Seriously guys, there were tears.

After the session, Teacher Mark gave us a review of what transpired during their 60-minutes of work-play.

Here are today's highlights:

• Continuation of TLO's evaluation
• Teacher Mark instructed TLO to color a triangle. TLO scribbled outside the shape. After 4-5 attempts, she followed his instruction and started to doodle inside the triangle (yey!)
• They played with rings. TLO knows how to put them in the rods but it really takes time for her to follow Teacher Mark's lead
• She showed teacher how to put a "baby" to sleep (a little Winnie the Pooh)
• Assignment for TLO: learn action songs, play with rings
• Assignment for us: 1) Answer the question: where are the rest of the rings of her toy? Hubby only found two out of five 2) Bring a notebook next time 3) teach TLO action songs (good luck with that)
  

Session 3... can't wait!