THE GIFT

 

 
It’s that time of year again when children are busy writing letters to Santa . The Elves have been working hard all year to produce all sorts of wonderful toys. Actually it would appear that Santa’s elves have now moved with the times and display their wares in Catalogues and t.v. commercials, nevertheless it is still a time of excitement and anticipation and the build up to that very special day is just as important as the day itself.

My 6 year old Granddaughter Natalie has already chosen the gift that she would like Santa to bring her. Even when she was too little to express an opinion, it would still be easy for Santa to know what she wanted based on her age and ability.  When she was a toddler she was still able to point out a ‘Santa’ in a shopping arcade and get excited about the Christmas activities, despite the fact that she may not have fully understood the Christmas Story that was performed each year at playgroup, nursery etc.

Christmas for Natalie’s 3 year old Sister Jessica is a different matter. Due to her global developmental delay and the fact that she is non verbal, Christmas can become quite a challenge. Not for her to be honest but for us. The challenge usually begins with the gift.  Because of her developmental delay Jessica’s abilities to play with certain toys have always been limited. It has never been as straight forward as giving her something for her age group. Another problem has always been (and still is) the fact that Jess puts everything in her mouth. It’s a sensory thing and is not unusual but it does mean that everything she is given has to be able to be chewed or sucked safely, no small parts that could be choking hazards, no ‘dodgy’ paintwork or things that could come apart in her mouth. No, Santa definitely has his work cut out.

Last year saw me looking longingly at the little doll’s pram in the shop window, just right for toddlers who were now walking.  Problem was Jess was not walking.  I remembered how my girls used to love their baby dolls and playing Mummies, they would spend ages talking to their ‘baby’ and pretending to feed and change it etc. 

Jess has a baby doll.  She spends ages chewing it’s hands or feet. 

Last year, despite the fact that Jess was 2.1/2 I limited my search to buying things for her that were for children less than half that age and had resigned myself to the fact that this was probably how it was always going to be and thinking that Mr. Fisher & Mr Price should both get Knighthoods.

Awkward conversations arose with shop assistants as I would stand for ages staring at a display:-

“ Can I help you?”

“ I’m just looking for a present for my Granddaughter”

“ Oh lovely. What age is she?”

“two and a half”

“That’s a lovely age isn’t it, they are into everything and want to copy Mummy. How about this lovely dolls buggy, complete with parasol, or perhaps the little rocking crib to put her dolly into, it comes complete with bedding and is just right for a little girl of that age”.

“ Erm no, it’s not that simple, she doesn’t walk, she was born with….actually I will leave it but thank you anyway”.

By then I would have beaten a hasty retreat out of the shop tears stinging in my eyes. The poor shop assistant wondering what she had said that was wrong.

Back to the baby shop.

As you may be aware from previous blogs changes were afoot. Jessica once again proved the Specialists wrong. After learning to crawl she then began to pull herself up holding onto the furniture or anything else that was handy. Soon she was cruising around the furniture, still holding on but getting more confident by the minute. Now, months later she has gone from strength to strength and walks independently from room to room. She now stands without having to hold on to anything.

There is a lovely picture at Jess’s Nursery of her standing painting in front of an easel. She has always loved doing things that are ‘crafty’. Painting, play dough, you name it and the messier it is the more Jess enjoys herself. You can tell when she has been painting at Nursery and what colours she has used, as despite their best efforts to clean her up before home time, she still manages to get the paint in her hair, ears and other places. 

She has a unique style which involves putting the loaded paintbrush into her mouth and then daubing this over the paper or anywhere else she can get it! Very often she will abandon the brush altogether (except for a quick chew of the end every now and then) and just go full on into the paint with her hands. The paint combined with excess dribble creates a most unusual but somewhat pleasing effect and if the ‘artwork’ I have seen on display in the Tate Modern is anything to go by could well be viewed by critics as something quite exceptional in years to come.  Mummy & Daddy would be well advised to keep these little masterpieces somewhere safe for future generations to admire.

Painting at home involves covering as many surrounding surfaces as possible with plastic tablecloths or similar and then letting the budding artist get to work in her chair with the tray attached.
 

THE ARTIST AT WORK

            
Now the time had come for presents to be given once again and you could say that I had a bit of a ‘light bulb’ moment.  Actually given the time of year perhaps it was more of a ‘fairy light bulb’ moment!  Anyway it came after picking Jess up from Nursery recently and being told how she had loved the activity that morning as it was painting. This was quickly followed by an apology about the blue paint that they had just noticed was still in her hair, I was still chuckling about that on the way home when in a flash of inspiration I knew exactly what to get Jess for Christmas.

The next day the scenario was quite different:-

“Can I help you?”

“ Oh yes please I would like to purchase an easel, it’s for my Granddaughter”.

“Oh how lovely. This one is really good, it has a blackboard on one side and a whiteboard on the other and if they want to paint there is a clip to attach the paper. How old is your Granddaughter? This easel is only recommended for use by children aged 3 years and over.”

“She will be 3.1/2 at Christmas”

“No problem then, this will be the perfect gift for her”

“Yes, this year it will be”.