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The ‘Debriefing’
Posted by Jennica
I almost forgot the follow-up!
After the brief Q&A with the neighbor girl (prior blog post), we got back to our house and I made a point of openly talking about the encounter to Daddy, in front of Adelaide.
I said, “By the way, Daddy, the neighbor asked about Addy’s port wine stain!” “Really? [Happily, like I just gave him good news.] And what did she say?” Addy piped up: “I said it was my port wine stain from Dr. Zelickson.” “That’s wonderful, Addy! It’s cool that she was curious about it.” To which Addy nodded slowly, processing, then agreed happily: “Yes, it is!”
Why debrief? Because I want Addy 1) to know it’s fair game for open conversation – something she can bring up casually with us, 2) to get into the habit of debriefing us after those little conversations (keeping us in the loop when any negative ones come up), and 3) to put a positive spin on it.
Did I want to? No. I feel awkward talking about it, honestly. But I don’t want to spread that feeling to Addy. So it took some effort to bring it up, but I’m glad we did. Just seeing her absorb Daddy’s enthusiasm was worth it. đ
“A Painting”
Posted by Jennica
(It’s been a while – sorry.)
Siblings. They’re as honest as every other kid out there.
Addy (who is now 5) just had a laser surgery, which makes her port wine stain darker and a bit blotchy with bruising. Clarence, her 3-year old brother, just noticed it – he pointed to the stain and said “That’s blood!” Addy corrected him nicely: “No, it’s not.” “Yes, it blood.” I interrupted: “No, buddy, Addy’s not bleeding.” “Yes, it blood.”
So Addy explained, “It’s my port wine stain from Dr. Zelickson.” (Close enough.)
Then she added (repeating what she had told me a few days earlier when we talked about going in for another treatment), smiling and touching her cheek delicately, “I pretend that this is a painting.”
Posted in 3. Addy Stories & Experiences
Tags: Grace, Perspective, Port Wine Stain, Treatments
2nd Surgery during Preschool
Posted by Jennica
Today Addy went to preschool with her face bruised from Mondayâs surgery. Itâs been six months since her last treatment, so we were a little concerned that sheâd be more sensitive to her classmatesâ stares/questions/comments (if they said anything at all) than she was last time. So Keith had a little pep talk with her this morning right before we raced out of the house (we were running late):
Keith: âSweetie, you know how you had your laser treatment on Monday?â
Addy: âYeah.â
Keith: âAnd you know how it makes your face look⌠different⌠than it usually does?â
Addy: âYeah.â
Keith: âWell, your classmates arenât used to seeing it like this, so they might wonder why, and they might ask you.â
Addy: âYeah.â
⌠Noticing that each answer was increasingly distant or forlorn, he thought she might be worried about her face, so he delayed our departure by another minute to find out:
Keith: âHoney, are you sad?â
Addy: âYeah.â
Keith: âOkay⌠Do you want to tell me about it?â
Addy: âIâm disappointed.â
Keith: âAll right. And why are you feeling disappointed?â
She looked at him with a âduhâ expression: âBecause I want to go to preschool. Right now.â
So much for a pep talk. đ
Taming Mother Bear
Posted by Jennica
Last night we went out to eat at Noodles. It was dinnertime, so there were lots of families with kids. We found a table in the back, by a family with a couple of little girls who were somewhere between kindergarten and third grade. (I canât tell kidsâ ages, so thatâs a guess; older than Addy, still quite a bit younger than tweens.) While we approached and were getting settled, one of the girls noticed Addyâs face, still quite bruised from laser surgery. The girl caught her friendâs attention and gestured toward Addy. They stared wide-eyed. Then they started whispering furtively together; one kept touching her own cheek while they were discussing the sight.
There was something about their manner that brought back every memory of junior-high-female cattiness â that kind of âOhmygosh, did you SEE her outfit?â posturing, leaning forward to whisper together importantly, stopping to turn and stare, then ducking back into the gossip. And it infuriated me.
I could a) ignore them, b) obey my ursine maternal instinct and cross the eight feet between us to give each one a good smack upside the head, c) find a happy medium and just stand there glaring at them until they got uncomfortable, which would have looked weird in public but still been at least mildly satisfying in a passive-aggressive way.
Since Iâm not writing this from the local jail, you can assume I went (reluctantly) with Option A.
There were three factors that caused me to pick âself-controlâ over âmother bearâ:
1) The girlsâ parents were sitting right there, and would have noticed me. Darn it.
2) Addy was completely oblivious, so⌠if Iâm honest with myself, Iâll admit⌠no harm done there.
3) Thereâs a solid possibility that these were actually, truly, good girls. Girls who would never in a million years intend to hurt anyoneâs feelings. Girls who are too little to understand that their innocent whispering could be noticed, let alone misconstrued. Girls who have never seen a half-purple face before and are simply trying to figure out what might have happened to it by talking about it together. Girls who are just old enough to start innocently adopting those chattering female mannerisms that carry such baggage for those of us who survived junior high.
So, I sat down at our table and ate dinner like an adult. Every once in a while I glanced over to observe the girls, and they seemed to be normal. Iâm not sure exactly what that means (like how nasty the normal ones can get), but at least they werenât running around hitting old ladies or laughing at people in wheelchairs. So, maybe I can give them some room to be curious.
I guess Iâm learning that itâs a lot easier to handle the questions with humor, than with graceâŚ
Posted in 3. Addy Stories & Experiences
Tags: Encounters, Grace, Parenting, Perspective
Big-Girl Chat
Posted by Jennica
Okay, I chickened out.
I was going to talk to Addy about her stain, in order to preempt any comments from the other kids at preschool. (âWhy is your face pink?â âWhatâs on your face?â) But, when Iâve seen her get questions in the past, she has generally just looked blankly at the interrogator and kept playing⌠so I figured Iâd just see if we could keep that âblissfully ignorantâ stage going for a while longer.
As far as I can tell, she hasnât received any comments or questions at preschool â yet. But she had a laser treatment on Monday, so the stain is looking mottled and dark purple. (When the laser kills blood vessels, they get temporarily darker, leaving the stain noticeably darker and bruised for a few days.) Sheâll probably get questions today.
So, last night we decided to put it on her radar, and Keith had a âbig-girl talkâ with her at dinner. âAddy, you know how you had a laser surgery on Monday?â [she nods enthusiastically â she really likes her hospital visits] âWell, you know how your port wine stain is darker now? Like where itâs usually pink, and now itâs more purple?â [she nods blanklyâŚlike, what pink?]
So they go to the bathroom, where he holds her in front of the mirror. âSee, Addy? You know how normally your port wine stain is a little bit pink? What color is it now?â She lights up like a Christmas tree: âPURPLE!!â
I had forgotten⌠purple is her second-favorite color. âAnd, and, and, my nose is PINK!â Pink is her absolute favorite color, ever.
âSo you know the other kids at preschool? They â â âThey donât have purple.â (She says it with sympathy. Poor kids.) âWell, they might ask you why you have purple. Do you know what youâll say?â âItâs from my laser surgery with doctor Zelickson.â
Okay, so the kidâs picked up more than weâve given her credit for. She knows and understands that the laser treatments lead to some bruising (about as much as a 3-year old can, I guess), and she knows that other kids donât get the privilege of sporting pink noses or purple cheeks.
Canât argue with that, I guess. Weâll see how it goes today; Iâll probably linger over the drop-off, just to watch the other kidsâ first impressions, and to see if I can overhear any questions and watch her respond. Given her âbig-girl talkâ with Daddy last night, Iâm not too concerned⌠just really curious!