You'd Think That After 7.5 Years...

...I'd stop underestimating Em. But I keep on doing it!

So, yesterday, she and N were in the backyard, playing some game of house that Em had made up. Em particularly likes playing house with Noah, because she totally bosses him around. Well, with all the reading I've been doing about N's issues (or potential issues), one of the things that keeps coming up that makes sense to me is that he needs to work on keeping up with other kids' imaginations and games. So I called Em over and asked her, without much preamble, to make sure to include N in deciding what the next thing to happen would be.

"You know, instead of saying, 'We're in a pizza place. Here's your pizza,' say to him, 'We're in a pizza place. What kind of toppings do you want on your pizza?' Or even let him decide what kind of restaurant it is," I said.

She looked puzzled, but agreed.

Later, she and I went to lunch together and then to get our hair cut. While we were at lunch, she asked my why I had asked her to do that with N. I mentioned that I've been a little 'worried' about him and how he's going to be able to learn how to play with other children when his friend WeeyumWise isn't around, and it helps if he gets practice when he's not feeling shy.

"Why are you worried?" she asked.

"Well, I probably should say worried," I answered. "More liike concerned. I've just noticed that he has trouble..." and here I started to search for the right word to use to explain how he just doesn't seem to make connections with other children, can't seem to bridge to them, but to say it in a way she could understand.

I didn't have much of a chance to search, however.

"Communicating," she said almost immediately. "You mean you've noticed how he has trouble communicating with other kids, right?"

She may not be the next Einstein, but sometimes that kid is freakishly bright.