Helper Arm Buy-In

Jordan’s on track again. She was rude and obnoxious after returning to regular life from a long vacation and a week with her grandparents. To make things more challenging, I’m still healing from knee surgery and Jordan’s dad left to teach journalists in China. Luckily my mom arrived to help me care for the kids and get Jordan back into her normal, sweet self.

She has thrown tantrums over just about everything… but not her helper arm. She’s added it into a daily patterns before and after vacation. I think I’ve figured out why we have some serious buy-in with her arm.

First, it’s because it’s pretty. So very very pretty. All that princess action makes her proud to wear it. It isn’t my style, but that doesn’t matter one bit. I need her to love it and she does love it. Second, it’s because she can use it. Check this out:

I challenged Jordan to draw with her helper arm when we got to school one day this week… gave her a little instruction to hold onto the paper (or coffee filter, whatever works) and she did a little drawing. It turned in to mostly a scribble but she tried to write a few letters in the mix. It was awesome.

The more she uses it, the more she realizes it’s a useful tool. That’s the other reason why she’s really buying into it. She’s growing logic. I realize she’s four and wants to rebel against everything I request, but I think she’s seeing real purpose to her helper arm. I don’t require a time limit on her use. I just expect her to wear it at the start of every day at school. At home, she uses it when I see a need, but it isn’t required. She’s great to using it. She loves having an elbow. I’m so happy for her.