This morning Wil was moving slow. The day before he attended Victory Day at Eastern Michigan University during the school day, then helped at the Greenhouse Sale at the high school after school and ran an errand. This morning he was walking that ledge between a shut down but also wanting his independence in getting ready for school.
He’s 19. Who, especially at 19, wants their mom breathing down their neck to get going. So I’d gently prompt, walking that ledge with him, watching for signs. When he wasn’t picking out his hat fast enough, I pushed too hard because his self-talk got agitated. I then started to sing a made up song about Wil getting his hat and he started to laugh.
I wonder, at a tense corporate meeting, what would happen if we just made up an impromptu song about the situation. Would it lighten the mood?
Even though disability seems to have its own little world, I do love how being silly is often the winner in that world. Because really, when you are being silly to lighten someone else’s mood, it has this uncanny way of lightening your own mood too.