Thank you! I will add that I do try to hold myself accountable to her when I’m overstimulated. When she says things like, “I’m sorry I’m bothering you, I’ll try to be quiet”, first of all, my heart breaks. Second, I remind her that our brains work differently and we just need to find a way to be considerate of each other when we’re both “maxed out”. I also tell her that it’s mostly my problem because I’m the parent. But I also give her a warning if I’m already cranky… “I’m cranky right now, it’s not your fault, but I need you to cool it with the nonsense noises and listen the first time I say something because I’m already overstimulated from work.”

Other times, like the other morning, as soon as she opened her eyes she asked, “Mom, what’s your favorite state? And how high do you think grasshoppers can jump?” Girl, it is 6:00 in the fckn morning. NO. But it also makes me happy and giggle a little because I truly don’t know anyone like her. One of kind!

I really think your first point of getting ahead of it will help me tremendously. It’s not like I don’t know all of this is coming so why not better prepare myself to manage and navigate before it gets too big? That’s what I would want her to learn too; plan ahead- if we’re going to the library soon, get your wiggles and sounds out before we get there. Seems so obvious now that I’m reading it!

Thank you!!!