I’m feeling proud of my Bunny girl today. She had an invitation to a birthday party this afternoon.
Bunny doesn’t cope well in these types of situations. Loud music, flashing lights and lots of people all combine to overwhelm my littlest girl. The sensory overload is far too much for her, There’s a lack of structure – she doesn’t know what is going to happen next which makes her anxious. The social side is ‘interesting’ and she seems to struggle with the other children. The other tricky situation is the party food. Bunny strugggles with buffet food; all that delicious food sitting looking at her which she can’t have while there are party games, then a busy scramble at the tables to fill plates and the panic that she might not get enough, others might have more, they might run out of food etc, Bunny has told me before that looking at food and not being able to eat it makes her head and tummy hurt.
Anyway off we went to the party. I decided in advance that I would have very low expectations of our afternoon and anything she achieved would be a bonus. And we did it! I picked a seat at the furthest end of the hall to the food tables and also brought nibbles in my handbag to give her when needed. Happily at this party they weren’t giving out sweets as prizes so that relieved some stress too.
Bunny wore her ear defenders – good job as it was a very loud disco. She didn’t manage to dance or do any games with the other children but she found a balloon and happily played with that near me and away from everyone else for most of the party.
After eating she spent the rest of the party crawling round the floor in circles and in hindsight maybe we should have left then. I think that was her not too subtle signal that she had had enough,
But we have made another positive memory together and most importantly for me when I asked Bunny if she had enjoyed herself she said yes. And that’s good enough for me!
3girlstogether 