A self-portrait of Tess going to her preschool. She is walking from the car dropoff with her tote on the yellow line into her school. (She doesn't really have to cross two lanes of traffic to get there, though). The school playground is shown in detail on the right, complete with the yellow slide, swing, monkey bars and the bouncy car and motorcycle at the top. She included the cross at the top of the church, and you'll notice that someone is even waiting to open the door for her, to her great relief.
So I had my intake meeting with Tess' counselor at Phoenix Family Counseling & Play Center today. I liked the therapist. She has a lot of experience working with anxious children and she seemed to think she could make good progress with Tess. She showed me the therapy room, stocked high with art supplies and toys of every kind. It looked like something Tess would get excited about. I talked with Tess about the therapist. After considerable thought on how to present this, I decided to tell Tess she is a "Brave Teacher." Someone who teaches kids how to be brave if they feel worried a lot. Tess first wanted to know what the Brave Teacher looks like--what color hair, skin and eyes. She wanted to know if she had glasses, "Cuz lots of doctors have glasses." Then she wanted to know the "shape" of her eyes. Heaven help me.
Her most pressing concern was whether I would be there too. I told her I would wait in the office for her to finish in the playroom with the "Brave Teacher." She was not happy about this and wanted to know if the door would be closed, how many doors, and what color the doors are.
I think I may have won her over with my description of all the art supplies and toys. "I think I want to do painting the most. Can you do more than one thing if you want to?"
She also liked that her Brave Teacher's name is "Maureen." That put a smile on Tess' face.
Only problem now is that I realized her first session with be next Thursday, which means she'll miss Valentine's Day at school. What to do? What to do?
We may never sleep again if she misses Valentine's Day.
3 comments:
You are a very wise woman. What's not to like about "Brave Teacher"? I think you will get lots better results if she doesn't have to miss Valentine's Day at school. How did she do at her friend 's house today?
What a lovely drawing.
Papa
Tell Tess that Kenzie goes to a Brave Teacher too! She has one at her school, and sometimes if she's having a hard day she can go talk to the Brave Teacher.
Her Brave Teacher showed her a book about being worried and Kenzie learned that lots of kids are worried sometimes. Her Brave Teacher has taught her special tricks to try when she starts to feel worried. It's helped Kenzie a lot!
PS I'm glad her name is Maureen, Maureens are usually VERY nice people!
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