The lights came on

Today we had play group and while Leo is making strides in developing his motor skills and learning how to do all the physical things, there are still areas that need great work. First off, he is still very timid when playing with instructors and won't let any one other than me touch him while we are there. Secondly, separation anxiety time. He freaks out.

Well, while we were doing an activity today one of the instructors just came and picked up Leonard and took him to play, protests and all. As I watched, unsure of what I should do, the instructor gently commented, "Just give him some encouragement, but keep your distance. There isn't anything wrong with him, he is just using you as an escape if he doesn't want to do something. He knows you'll come and save him, so he uses that whenever something is new or scary to him. If you encourage him, and make it seem like what he's doing is the best thing in the world, then he'll believe that and become more comfortable." Bam! Just like that...I got it. The lights came on and everybody was home. I understood totally what he was saying. "I'm enabling him" I said. He just grinned and said, "Exactly" So with some more gentle prodding and tips from the instructors, we worked together to get Leo to have an awesome day at play group. He really enjoyed himself and was playing very nicely with the instructors by the end of the day, allowing them to pick him up and everything.

Separation anxiety time is a different story. He still gets very frightened and is inconsolable when he doesn't know where I'm at. At the end of class, I spoke a little with the instructors to hear what they had to suggest. They gave me a few tips and I'm ready to try them at the next meeting. Hopefully we'll do better.

I am especially hopeful, that come Sunday, I can use these tips when it comes time for Nursery. It's been long enough that I sit with him through the entire thing, I think it's time to try and break away.