Every "Gotcha Day" night, I bathe the new child. Samuel was the first one I did not bathe on day one. He was sick with congestion, that I didn't want to take a chance of him catching a chill.
In addition, last night he fell asleep in my arms while he was eating. Thus, he didn't get his teeth brushed.
So today, reality set in. I put him in the bath tub, and he began to cry--which was very good. I showed him he could splash in the water and the laughing began. It was so precious! He cried when he had to get out of the tub. (he he)
Then, he had to have his teeth brushed. Oh! The tears!
To add to that, Samuel cried when we put him to bed. Derek and I hugged him, cradled him, and put him back to bed. The crying continued as Derek rubbed Samuel's back and I rubbed his face.
It was sad to hear him cry, but for those who have gone through this process, you know it's actually very good.
Children can express stress and trauma in various ways, and one way is to shut down. With Sammy beginning to cry and express what he likes and doesn't like, it allows us to see that he is feeling more comfortable with us, and it shows us that he is allowing himself to feel. It's all "good" and part of the process.
In due time, he will trust us to care for his every need.
"Sammy, we love you! We love that you are feeling more comfortable with us!" ❤
Reality #2:
We're back to washing laundry in the tub and air drying the clothes. It's all good.
1 comment:
Wait, What?! You didn't carry that cool little washer/dryer with you?! ;) (though I'm sure that would have been a nice deal to have been able to do so!) Glad that Sammy is starting to work through what is going on, and expressing that it's rough. So sad that adoption comes from hard places, but so happy that he is now in his new family :)
Post a Comment