Because there's so much going on with our kids, Mr. A joined our team of therapists. He came over to meet the kids after school.
In the days prior, the afternoons had gone something like this:
E raced in the door after school and ran to the bathroom,
screaming that he had to go. The minute he saw GracieGirl walk by, he ran out, saying, "Never mind." The
only reason he'd run in there was because he thought that
she had to go!
GracieGirl wanted a certain piece of paper, and E stuffed it in his mouth and
ate it, rather than let her have it.
The kids screamed that they were starving and needed food immediately. After having a snack, one of them repeated the screaming/begging for food episode, again and again.
Nate stormed in, saying that he had the worst day of his life (his typical line after school), threw down his stuff, and stomped up to his room.
E started annoying Jay, begging to get on the computer, throwing things at him and frustrating Jay to the point that he got up and started fighting with E.
GracieGirl fell to the floor, hysterically crying, but refused to tell us what was wrong.
There was lots more, but that's been the general theme of things.
Mr. A arrived here before the kids got home. They had no idea that he was coming, and even after I introduced him, they didn't know what his role was. They're used to lots of new people in the house and they don't even bat an eye anymore. He, however, had met with us several times, as we'd shared the gamut of behaviors that we live with each day. He'd come out to observe them.
Here's how that particular afternoon unveiled:
Nate came home from school, gently set down his backpack, walked over, smiled and shook Mr. A's hand. They chatted for a few minutes before Nate excused himself to go study for a test.
GracieGirl and E walked in with smiles, stopped to hug me, said hello after I introduced Mr. A to them. Then, without being asked, unpacked their backpacks and put everything away.
Jay came home, looked at Mr. A when I introduced him, and said hello. He then asked politely if he could please go on the computer.
Mr. A asked E if he would like to play a game. E said yes (unheard of), and went to choose a game. He asked Mr. A if he would please help (E does
not ask for help; he screams and throws things when he can't do something on his own!) because he couldn't reach it. They played Jenga together, and when E caused it to fall, I cringed, waiting for the tantrum. Nothing. He just smiled and said, "Fun game!"
At that point, I was freaking out. This was
not my child!
E then wanted to play Pokémon. He asked GracieGirl if he could please borrow her Pokémon cards. Again, I cringed, waiting for the screams of protest. GracieGirl said, "Sure, go head." E thanked her. He then asked if he could keep two of her cards. She looked at them, smiled, and said yes.
Now I was really freaking out.
Neither of these were my children!
E asked Jay if he would like to play Pokémon with them. Jay answered (miracle #1), said that he would like to play (miracle #2), and turned off his computer game to go play with them (huge miracle #3)!
Meanwhile, GracieGirl asked if I would like to play a game, and she decided on Sorry and Crazy Eights. I love playing games with my girl, but she doesn't handle losing very well (understatement of the year), so I'm always a bit apprehensive.
We played Sorry first, pausing only as she got out her Bible and started asking me Bible trivia questions. I won the game, and involuntarily tensed up, waiting for the fallout. She smiled and said, "Good game, Mommy!"
Unless you live in this house, you're just not going to understand how monumental these things are! My children just do not behave like this. Ever.
I looked around the room, seeing Jay, E, and Mr. A sitting around the coffee table, calmly playing together. Nate was quietly studying, and GracieGirl and I had moved on to Crazy Eights. Before I took my next turn, she pulled out her Bible again and read a verse to me. Just because.

At this rate, this will soon be us!
Believe me, I'm not complaining. It was nice. Norman Rockwell could have captured it on canvas. It's just so far from our reality, the reality that we needed Mr. A to see so that he could help us!

Introducing our New Family
It's just so darned typical that it would happen on the day that Mr. A came to observe.
Nick used to say, "Murphy's Law." Now he just says, "Murphy lives here."
It's true. Even when something goes
right, it's wrong!
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