[blparent] strangers communicating visually with your child

Wed Oct 19 18:16:05 UTC 2011

Chad,

Thanks. I appreciate knowing what I'm in for. I really should take a
step back and realize my husband deals with erik's cute socialability
too. the difference is that he knows when that lady three seats away
is smiling and blowing kisses at Erik and I don't. I think it'll be
easier for me when he's more verbal. But, it sounds like Harrison and
Erik are very similar. Every freaking day I've got women and men
telling me how adorable Erik is and how wonderfully well-behaved he
is. And as a new mommy, my heart just swells with pride to hear
other's opinions of my son. Joe and I kid around and say we are taking
him to the next Gerber baby audition because he's cuter than most of
the Gerber babies on the commercial. Plus, I usually dress him in
jeans, onesies, shoes and sometimes a hat. When I do that everyone
goes crazy. Erik just eats it up.

I think taking him on BART, strolling through the city streets and
taking him everywhere helps his adaptability to people and situations.
And right now, even though he can't talk, he definitely lets me and
everyone else know when he isn't happy about something. He sees mom
and dad always talking and laughing with people so he really is always
around extraverted folks.

For the most part, people talk to him and me both. I just think it is
a little weird when they talk and interact with him directly anb
totally ignore me. I feel it is a bit rude. It's like talking to
someone's guide dog and ignoring the owner standing there.

Thanks and I too look forward to reading more posts.

LM

On 10/19/11, Chad Allen <chad at chadallenmagic.com> wrote:
> First, I love the subject of this post. Second, congratulations, you have a
> cute sociable kid. My son is as well.
>
> Cute sociable kids are the total admiration of any living thing within sight
> of it. it's power is impossible to ignore!
>
> It's not just a blind thing either because my wife talks about it all the
> time. It happens to herewith him and I'm sure with me every step I take on
> Hollywood Blvd. We call him Hollywood's ambassador.
>
> Last night, we were at a Mexican restaurant and Harrison was the center of
> the party. He danced with the live musicians and they sang "It's A Small
> World." Everything he did was commented on around us even before the
> musician thing. Now, that's a fun time when people interact but yes, people
> start to lose the person bubble thing when cute sociable kids are involved.
>
>
> Also, Peek-a-boo is a common game Harrison plays and interest in it came out
> of nowhere. All of a sudden, he was playing all day, all the time. One time
> at home, he started hiding behind furniture and I caught the clue that he
> wanted to play. From then until he got bored with the game, we played it a
> lot. Inside and outside.
>
> He is 15 months now and we are pretty much constantly engaging with him and
> encourage his verbal skills but when you feel that personal bubble broken,
> just try and take a step back first and when they "baby talk" with my kid, I
> "baby talk" back. It helps make them pay attention to me instead of my kid
> for a moment.
>
> I could go on but I'll wait to hear others response. I'm sure a lot will be
> said on this.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Lisamaria Martinez
> Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 10:13 AM
> To: NFBnet Blind Parents Mailing List
> Subject: [blparent] strangers communicating visually with your child
>
> Hi,
>
> In the last few days, I've been observing a few things that apparently
> I was totally unaware of while out in the public with Erik. Either I
> was oblivious or he's learning to interact more with people. I know
> he's already a big flirt, but I've always been able to tell when he's
> flirting with the ladies.
>
>  So, I'm curious now to know how other parents handle situations in
> which the public communicates/plays with your child.
>
> Here's what is happening to me:
>
> I usually take Erik out of his stroller during our BART ride. He loves
> to move around so much now that being restrained in his stroller is
> torture and he loudly proclaims his feelings about being strapped in
> and not on the move. So, I put him on my lap and he either sits and
> watches people while chewing his fingers or happily drooling on
> mommy's hands and forearms or he stands up on my lap and pats the
> window while we pass other trains, trees and buildings.
>
> I usually can tell when he catches the attention of a fellow
> passenger. He turns his head and stares. He starts to flap his little
> arms around like he's about to fly off somewhere. Or, he starts
> leaning toward them and tries to get them to pick him up.
>
> Yesterday and today though, he was just chilling in my lap and I hear
> him give a little laugh. Really, it is his big dimpled grin
> accompanied by a noise that tells me he's smiling. The people to my
> right and left start laughing out loud and one of them started talking
> to Erik and said, "Oh, she's playing peek-a-boo with you isn't she?
> You like that don't you? What a good boy you are." I looked at them
> and smiled and pretended I knew what they were talking about. That was
> yesterday. Today apparently, the lady next to me was making faces,
> waving at him, or something. He just kind of sat there making a few
> noises which I interpreted as him being sleepy or upset. And he was
> starting to get upset. so, I hoisted him into my arms and he dropped
> his head onto my shoulder and made his cute little sleepy noises. He
> popped his head right up in about a minute and looked all around again
> and made an upset noise. The lady next to me, started snapping her
> fingers and waving her hand in front of his face which was pretty much
> in front of my face too. She started talking to him and saying, "Oh,
> no, no. Don't cry. You were smiling at me earlier when I was making
> faces at you."
>
> I was really kind of annoyed at her for snapping and waving near my
> face. It was like a foot away ... but really! I think though I was
> just annoyed that she was doing all these faces at my son and I had no
> clue she was playing with him. Maybe it shouldn't bother me so much,
> but I have been slightly sleep deprived lately and I am feeling
> cranky. Am I just being cranky? Seriously though, how do others handle
> situations like this. My little guy is really very sociable and there
> will be many times when strangers will smile at him, wave, make faces,
> etc, etc. And, I'm not always going to know what's up.
>
> I'm interested in your comments and stories.
>
> LM
>
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