Using Your Words

I was so proud of Jacob today.

Courtney got invited by her friend to go bowling this afternoon. We loaded up in the car and drove to the bowling alley. As we were walking Courtney in to meet up with her friend (and the friend's mom), Jacob calmly stated, "I'm jealous that Courtney gets to go bowling and I don't."

Now, this may not seem like a big deal to the average "Joe" but this is a HUGE break through for Jacob and for our family. Typically, Jacob would launch into a HUGE fit and be all kinds of pissed off that Court was getting to do something that he wasn't (and that he wanted to do).

I didn't say much as we were about to encounter said friend and her mother. Courtney greeted her friend with the usual squeals of 11 year old girls and the mom was a sweetie as she expressed genuine pleasure in seeing the girls getting together. She then looked over at Jacob and said to me, "Would he like to stay and join us also?"

You should have seen the grin that took over that little boy's face. It was priceless. Of course he got to stay!

Later this evening when he was in my office and it was just the two of us, I complimented him on how well he communicated what he was feeling. Now, if we could ALL be able to communicate our feelings in such a calm and direct manner . . .