This wont be exciting to most but it’s huge to me. Those who read my blog often will know that I’ve spoken about Beth’s anxieties snowballing. If something small happens somewhere Beth will start off avoiding that time of day in case it happens again, then the preceding hour or so, eventually avoiding the place alltogether. If we don’t know what the issue was to start with it’s almost impossible to fix the problem as often Beth has forgotten what it is that started her off.
The biggest and longest issue Beth has had is with Oscar the Grouch. Beth used to have an issue with the sounds that elephants make. Oscar the Grouch has an elephant. When Beth was two or three she enjoyed watching Sesame Street as do most kids. Oscar’s elephant was on it and made it’s noise, startling Beth and causing her to stick her fingers in her ears each time she saw Oscar in case his elephant was on. (The fingers in the ears is to this day Beth’s coping mechanism.) When realising how many elephants were on Sesame Street Beth eventually couldn’t watch the whole show, even though they didn’t often make the noise that had freaked her out. It became so bad that at the end of each show (and some are only 5 minutes) Beth would have to leave the room in case there was an ad for Sesame Street and in case that ad had Oscar the Grouch and if it did it might have his elephant. You get the picture. For a while there we weren’t able to watch ABC Kids at all. Once the other kids came along (and before digital TV with lots of other kids channels) I decided that we’d have to push for Beth to be ok watching ABC and she has for the most part been ok. Out of all the kids she’s now the one who still enjoys watching Playschool amongst all the other preschool shows. I sometimes catch Bill out who looks guiltily at enjoying a ‘little kids’ show at 9!
In the mornings we watch tely as the kids get ready and they watch ABC Kids until 8.30am which incidentally is when Sesame Street comes on. If it happens to be on in the bedroom and in the lounge Beth freaks if somebody doesn’t turn it off on the tely she isn’t watching. Well…… yesterday I walked in on her at my inlaws house and she was sitting there watching Sesame Street! We normally turn the TV off during lunchtime but I asked if just this once we didn’t, I was so excited that Beth was watching it! Oscar didn’t play a part in yesterday’s episode so I couldn’t see a true reaction but Beth was watching the rest very happy. This morning she was in bed with me and watched it again. I stayed with her so as to calm her for if and when Oscar came on but he didn’t. Beth did go to stick the fingers in her ears just in case and I said to her that she’d be ok, she’s not scared of Oscar anymore. She told me that Oscar’s elephant had died anyway! I’m doubting that information, it is a kids show after all! Funnily enough Beth isn’t scared of elephants anymore, she got over that fear at about six. I’m so hoping that Oscar will be shown again soon so that I can see if the fear really is gone. I know it’s a little thing but in the world of Beth it’s huge, one of the biggest. To me it signifies that the new medication is working, that her anxieties are lessening again. It’s school holidays soon, let’s see how Beth goes when she can watch Sesame Street every day.
