"Two times!" Max said, shooting me a look. We were standing in the kitchen after he got home from school and I'd again reminded him to give the holiday present to his occupational therapist when she arrived. He was letting me know that I'd already told him once and he didn't need to hear it twice.
I have been dealing with tween 'tude for years now, courtesy of Sabrina. It's been kicking in with Max, so now I have tween and teen 'tude to contend with. Toddler 'tude, too.
I can't say I'm thrilled. Except, it is pretty cool to see Max coming into his own. He may not be 15 years old in some ways, but his attitude and the fact that I annoy him is totally age-appropriate. The one thing Max hasn't mastered yet is the eye roll, and I'm sure not getting him therapy for that.
Like many teens, Max thinks he knows everything. I could tell him anything—"You can't eat that, it has nuts!"/"The GOP tax plan passed and we're screwed!"/"I was a rock star in a former life!"—and he would respond, "I know!"
Like many teens, Max is also obsessed with earthly possessions, specifically anything tech-y. Last week, he saw a commercial for a Samsung Galaxy tablet and got it into his head that he needed to ditch his iPad mini, which has his TouchChat speech app.
Max was definitely in a contrarian mood that afternoon because after he glared at me, he grabbed his iPad from the charging station.
"It's old!" he announced. Then he handed it over to Ben, explaining that Ben could now use it to watch train videos, and showed him how to use it.
"Max, you need to keep using the iPad or your speech app," I pointed out.
"NO!" he said.
"Max, I don't think you can use TouchChat on the Galaxy, I'll have to check," I said.
[Glare.]
When the OT showed up later that afternoon, I told her that Max might be fixated on talking about the Galaxy tablet. Sure enough, when I stopped by his room to ask her something, I heard him informing her that she could use a Galaxy tablet during their sessions.
"Oh, don't rope me into that!" she said, laughing.
At least Max has now stopped talking about moving to Las Vegas.
It is with a mix of pleasure and terror that I say: Teens!!!
You have enormous patience Ellen. You have my respect through & through dealing with 3 types of rebellious personality traits simultaneously. Wow...
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if this particular Galaxy tablet had Bluetooth because you can set up accessible and cool gadgets.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's not a walled garden like the Apple world is. [And I say this with an Apple Store about to be in a public space]...
Yes - this is where it starts. Tech is a whole new world for toddlers; tweens and teens. And for occupational therapists who have been innovating since they were tweens themselves.
And, Rich, like you I have a great deal of respect for rebels, rebellion and rebellious traits.
Hello! ELLEN SEIDMAN,
ReplyDeleteTrying to teach Max with Educational apps & toys. You know kids are love to play with toys and games, you trying to teach him better using technology. We at onkartoys always trying to review toys for kids so that parents can buy it for their lovely children. Thanks for sharing with your article with us.