Whoo Hoo

Many of you know the trials we have been through with Monkey, and how much he struggles with every day stuff and how far he has come in the past few years. Monkey has always had problems with certain public situations, but we have had the most trouble with what I refer to as "the big three" Those would be Going to the Doctor/Dentist, Getting a Haircut, and Shoe Shopping. when Monkey was two I figured out a basic set of guidelines that if you could manage to stick to, you and Monkey would get along great. Those guidelines were as follows: Don't look at him, talk to him, or touch him. Unfortunately, there aren't many situations where you can stick with those guidelines. It was impossible with "the big three" and so we all dreaded those trips. The first one he managed to overcome was shoe shopping. We were thrilled to be able to go to the shoe store, get his feet measured and try on shoes without the sales girl getting kicked in the face or leaving with a hysterically screaming child. The next to improve was the trips to the Doctor and Dentist. We have gone from crying/screaming the entire visit (including sitting in the waiting room) to being able to reason with him/ reward him for getting through the visits without throwing a fit. So the last was the haircuts. He was so adamant that he wasn't going to get one a couple months ago that I just buzzed him at home because I refused to deal with a public scene. He cried and hollered and struggled through the entire thing. So, in preparation of the impending haircut this time, I mentioned today that he was going to have to have one. He immediately said "no" (he is his father's son) but then asked me to do it in our bathroom again. Of course there wasn't time before school, so I promised him we would do it after school. As soon as he got home he grabbed the stool and headed into the bathroom. He didn't even want to play the Wii first (his reward for being good at school, which he was). He stood still and didn't complain once. I was really proud of him, this was a huge step for us. So yea for Monkey and his adapting to fit into our world, I wonder if any of us would work so hard to adapt into his?