Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012 - 9:37 a.m.

So after only two days of in-laws, I can already see it taking its toll on Q. Ok, correlation is not causation. But after a couple-three weeks of things being more or less normal, one whole afternoon spent with them and she's suddenly back to being very crabby and whiny in the morning and hitting herself in the face when she feels the slightest bit upset.

Maybe it's just today. I'll let you know tomorrow.
Maybe I'm just projecting. The sheer unrelenting in-your-faceness of their interactions with her clearly drives me nuts. And I do think it can affect her, even as she loves it. It's like they're trying to elicit some other child. One who responds to knowledge-display prompts, one who is extroverted and runs right into the middle of things like a damn idiot.

What bugs me is asking her the same question over and over. "Do you want to (whatever)?" (No response) "Q, do you want to (whatever)?" Repeat several times. It's especially great when you get all 3 of them there clustered around her taking turns asking her the same goddamn question over and over, while she's trying to do something else, like think about what it is she WOULD like to do). I might repeat twice if I think there's a chance she actually didn't hear me, or if some time has gone by and she's finished what she's doing. But usually...she's not hard of hearing. She is aware that slides, for example, afford sliding. When she wants to do something, she lets you know. She is fucking ignoring you. So drop it already. (The exception being getting-ready activities, when she gets distracted before accomplishing her goal. I'm talking about play time, here.). My goal is to say it once (particularly when it comes to limits on behavior), and then enforce without further ado or judgment.

Ok, that's all for now. *sigh*

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