I know my kid is stubborn…frankly, most two year olds I know can be described this way.  She’s a happy, loving kid, but really isn’t easily motivated and usually just does things in her own time.  Why am I bringing this up?  Because yesterday the speech therapist called.  She was approved to come to the house one or two times to see if that breaks the ice a bit with Kailey.  Okay.  Good.  Let’s give that a try.  I apologize that the speech therapy is going so poorly.  Her comment is, “well, this is all behavioral and you guys need to correct it or you are going to have big problems.”*  Um, excuse me?  I admit that I (like most parents) tend to go all mama bear if you attack my kids, but I do try to be objective when people are trying to help.  But honestly?  It’s been over 24 hrs now and it’s still not going over well with me.  Here’s why:

  1. She’s two.  The age of tantrums, testing boundaries and “no.”  I am no childhood developmental expert, but I would say she ’s pretty typical.  All of her social skills are at or above age level.  I am not sure what more we should expect from her.
  2. She is having issues communicating, hence the need for ST, but also the cause of frustration.  She (along with some verbal kids) can’t always communicate her thoughts and feelings.  That would really tick me off too.
  3. My kid is typically friendly.  This is not to knock kids who have anxiety or are shy, but she really doesn’t display too much of those traits in normal situations.  We go to the grocery store or out in public and she would run down the aisles if we let her, waving and smiling at everyone.
  4. Our old therapist did meet some opposition from her on occasion, but nothing on this level.  Kailey also did really well with the therapist at our local children’s hospital who did an evaluation on her and that was for over an hour.  This leads me to believe that perhaps there is a personality issue with the therapist rather than a behavioral issue with my kid.
  5. We are not overly lenient parents.  We are not letting her run willy nilly, doing whatever she wishes.  She gets terribly ticked off about bedtime about once a week.  She refuses about a meal a day and will deal with only having a few bites until the next meal.  Teeth are brushed regardless.  Little brothers are not hit.  Stubborn or not, there are rules.

So, it will be interesting to see how tomorrow goes.  I have to work, unfortunately, so I will have to sit back and wait for the report from Bill.  It’s already making me nuts.  (Or more nuts).

*Paraphrasing to the best of my recollection…as I was stunned by the comment.