Like Other Girls

Over the summer, in an effort to maintain sanity, I purchased a princess sing along video for the girls. Most movies scare Chloe and they are long, so this was the perfect solution. I will admit that I used the video for when I was about to break and needed to go hide in my room for a few. I would then try to get whatever needed to be done during the rest of it, but I rarely sat and watched it with the girls. A few weeks ago (by this time they had watched it more than 10 times) I was in the kitchen getting dinner ready when Chloe exclaimed, "other girls, other girls, my favorite!" then as the song started Claire let out a loud sound of joy. This caught my attention so I watched with them. You can see for yourself, but the gist of the song is that the princesses don't want to have to be so formal, they just want to be like other girls, quickly I got it. You don't have to think long before you figure out why Claire would identify and Chloe often prefers what Claire does for no better reason than being the younger sister. With school starting I am again becoming more aware of the other girls. Those normal ones that wave good bye to their moms as they go off to 1st grade. The ones that play on the swings and don't have to be pushed, they also eat their lunches with no assistance at all. I think that in her non-verbal, clear as a bell way, Claire used her response to this song to tell me that is what she wants, to be normal. Funny, because that is what I want for it to be but sometimes I get so wrapped up in our special needs world, that I completely forget that the other one is out there. So how do I respond to that? For starters I went to parent night, but that is another post, one that is hopefully coming soon.