Grandma, why do you walk funny?


     
It's fascinating what children and their literature can teach a person with disabilities.  Caregiving is a family affair and I wanted to make sure that I was paying attention to the concerns of the grandchildren, as well as my own.  Although Sarah & Kyle, Zoe & Lexi aren't involved in actual care, they still have to make accommodations for my lack of mobility.  I wanted to know how having a relative with ataxia impacted children, so I asked.  My experience with children had been that they were so refreshingly honest.*  Having access to four children of different ages, personalities, and interests seemed like a golden opportunity to get some varying views.  I realized that probing into feelings can be confusing to children, so I was ready for whatever they came out with.

From Sarah, age 11: Well, I have a few more chores, but otherwise, it's OK. Seriously Grandma, it's OK.

From Kyle, age 8:  OK.  Can I go play Minecraft? 





From Zoe, age 9:  Well, I have to change the game rules when you play.  Like in Hide 'n' Seek, I have to do the hiding while you just sit.




 
From Lexi age 6:  I don't understand what you're saying.

  






 What I learned in Pooh's Little Instruction Book

 From Roo:  Drinking your milk and talking at the same time may result in your having to be patted on the back and dried for quite a long time afterwards.

From Pooh:  When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it.
From Pooh:  When you fall on somebody, it's not enough to say you didn't mean to; after all, he probably didn't mean to be underneath you. 


From Eeyore:  We can't all, and some of us don't.  That's all there is to it.





I'm not by nature a jealous person.  But I do have to confess to a twinge of wistful envy when able-bodied grandparents go to games and places I avoid.   That's quickly replaced by my outlook on the 'village'**. The grandchildren's village is fortunately large (grandparents, great grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins, friends) and they are happy to be in the center of it.

The lessons:  
Kids gravitate toward fun and away from aggravation.  
They make sense of whatever comes their way.  
Children of any age rarely give a lot of thought to a disability that isn't theirs.  
They don't often have an interest in adults' curiosity.
A person's a person, no matter how small. — Dr. Suess

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