The Plan

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So we went to the therapist and there were a few different explanations offered up by her:

1. It is possible that she is not getting enough sleep?

                   We do let her stay up later in the summer since there is no school in the morning, but she still has been getting up at the same time for her summer camps that she is going to. I guess we have to do a better job of getting her to sleep at a reasonable hour.

2. It is possible that she needs more attention focused on her since she isn't in school, and when she is home she needs to be getting that attention?

                     Well, I think we give her plenty of attention, and I am thinking that because we give her so much attention, and she is essentially an "only child"  that when we do something other than that she isn't used to it. While the therapist is thinking she needs more attention, I am thinking less. I think we have to stop making the world revolve around her. I think we may be doing her an injustice that way. I will mention this next time we visit the therapist and she what she says, but in the meantime, less attention.

3. Is it possible she is overwhelmed by all the visitors to our place?

                       This is a distinct possibility. It is the summer, and we are on Cape Cod, and we do have a lot of people coming to visit, including my mother who is here for over a month. My cousin and her two children and my aunt were here last night as well. We also went over to Martha's Vineyard to see my other cousin. We seem to have people coming around on a regular basis, or making plans to come around. I love having company, but apparently Shyanne is not all that thrilled about it.

So what are we going to do? I am thinking we definitely need to make sure she gets to bed at a more reasonable hour. We also need to stop paying so much attention to her so that she doesn't get upset when we don't. As far as visitors coming  She is just going to have to get used to that. Both DW and I love having company to the house. While sometimes relatives can be a pain in the neck, it is always good to have them come by for a day here or two days there. As far as my mother. she can come and live with us for all I care. Shyanne will just have to get used to it, and I don't think my mother is a problem for her anyway. It is just all the others.

I will let you all know how things work out and what happens. This weekend we are going up to Maine for my grandson's second birthday party, so the attention part will definitely get a trying out here. We don't want Shayanne to have to go cold turkey, but what better way to start paying less attention to Shyanne so that she can learn the world doesn't revolve around her.

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