Olivia as a baby never cried... never got herself worked up... and would not wake me at niht for feedings.. I just 'knew' when to wake up and feed her. Until she was 9 months old she never made a sound. At 9 months she had a surgery on her ear, and didn't like the doctor, she finally cried that day... and so did I.
By the age of three years I knew she was vastly different than other children her age. She had no interest in socializing with other children... and was happy to play on her own or hang with the grown ups. She said and understood things most children couldn't at such a young age. There was one morning (about 5am) I woke to a knock at the door... a strange woman was standing on my doorstep with little Olivia, who had decided around 4am to take the dog for a walk down the highway... in her panties and gum boots in the snow! This is when we decided we needed a lock on the very top of the door, because the bolt we had she could reach when using a chair and the flour bin!!!
At 5 years of age I hesitantly put Olivia in kindergarten... I was worried she would not do so well... I was correct... the first few days were okay. After the first two weeks Olivia was showing signs of stress, when I went to inform the teacher I discovered a substitute in her place... I told the sub, and left her to it. An hour later I received a phone call... Olivia had a fit... threw herself on the floor and was banging her head repeatedly... I had to come get her because every time someone tried to console her she acted out more. This is when we discovered she was easily overwhelmed in social settings, any physical touch could set her off... a TA touched her shoulder when telling her how well she did and it sent her into a frenzy. It took several days to calm her down
A few days after this incident I was contacted by ministry of children and family's, they were suspecting abuse of course because children *don't normally act that way* ... well ministry came and went... they saw my home... the way we lived, and how my children are with me... they saw no reason to interfere again. I of course was offended by the fact that someone suspected me but I let it roll off my back. I knew I was doing the best I could with my children.
Several weeks later I received yet another phone call from the ministry, and a visit of course... Olivia had been jumping on the couch while I was making dinner, and just as I had finished telling her not to she ended up jumping over the back of the couch and face planting into the boot rack... Apparently because I did not tell her teacher why she had a bruise on her forehead it must be because I was beating her... just to add to this... NOBODY ASKED WHAT HAPPENED!
I gave up and pulled her out of school. I told the teacher she was one of the worse kindergarten teachers I had ever met. I realize she was just doing her job... and was looking out for the children... but my daughter was very obviously different than the rest of them, and if she wasn't willing to hear me out than why bother having her in that class?
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School has always been a challenge with my very creative, and very different second born child. She has learned to manipulate people to get what she wants. Throwing fits in class so she gets special one on one *art time* in a quiet room away from the other kids is ultimately her goal... as well as turning on the water works at lunch time and claiming she has nothing to eat so she gets an extra granola bar... and obviously NOT eating her sandwich or apple. (I am happy to say after 4 years the teachers are finally listening to me)... all this being said... she is a brilliant little person with so much love and creativity just pouring out of her.
It did not take long for me to know exactly how different she was... when she finally *settled* into school (still needing out of class time to bring herself down) I had a meeting with the TEAM of teachers and therepists helping her... they all had different ideas on what Olivia is like... I spoke up finally after an hour of listening to them go on and on about ADHD and ADD... she is neither of those. "have ANY of you noticed she uses both right and left hands when shes coloring or writing?" ... all the teachers went silent... one of them finally spoke up and said "not only is she ambidextrous physically but I think she is ambidextrous mentally as well.. she can follow what is going on in the class room AND still be learning what the teacher is teaching" .... finally someone had noticed my childs gift.
Olivia is a cuddly, gentle, and sensitive little person... and by little I mean up until last year she was easily mistaken for being only 5 or 6 years old when in fact she is turning 11!! Her vocabulary is at a grade 9 level... and her understanding of things is easily above many adults I know. When she is not sure of a persons name she makes up a name and continues to call them that name until she sees fit to call them by their own name... Take Fergus for example, my sisters boyfriend. Olivia had forgotten his name... so she started calling him *Oakster* ... I have no idea where this name came from... but she still calls him that to this day... when you say *Fergus* she says *oh you mean Oakster*. Not only that but if you ask her what she would do if she were stranded on an island with no food she would reply with "I'd start cannibalizing, I think I would eat the people I don't like first"... strange and wonderful little girl...
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| Olivia showing the camera some *dead carcass hair* |
I think it was hard for my partner to ease carefully into being a part of our family, but Olivia sure loved him right off the bat. She is not shy to share her feelings with people... she made sure to snuggle him when he was on the couch... and she tells him that she loves him almost every day. I don't know how this story will unfold with Olivia... but I am sure it will be a colorful and interesting one at the very least.
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