First Softball Practice of 2023
It’s softball season again! Payton is so excited to go to practice. We get ready, grab our things, and head out the door… always a process😊 Payton and Olivia are on different teams this year which Jimmy and I think will go much better than them being on the same team. It gives Olivia a chance to be the center of attention and not compete with her sister. So this year Jimmy and I have to divide and conquer. This time I take Payton to her practice and Jimmy to Olivia’s. Payton is so excited waiting or being patient isn’t her strong suite. I introduce her to her coach, and explain she has Autism; but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have to follow the rules and listen. She just needs a few more chances, or a few more deep breaths from her coach. Practice goes well. She’s sort of listening. First time up to bat she swings with one hand and actually makes pretty good contact. Let’s hope this doesn’t stick with her. Next time up to bat she hits with two hands thank goodness and doesn’t throw the bat. Last year when she’d hit the ball the bat would go flying. Not during the swing; but in the commotion afterwards while running to base.
An hour is up and practice is over. She’s furious. A meltdown ensues. Everyone is telling her good job and that they’ll see her next week. She’s asking for a minute. Ok I can give her that. I see one of her friend’s brothers and ask him if I can borrow his softball for a couple of minutes he says yes. Payton and I play catch. Here is the moment of truth. As the timer goes off, she starts screaming even louder. What the heck! We haven’t done this in over a year. I thought we were past this. Now I’m gathering her stuff as fast as I can. One of her friend’s dads is keeping an eye on her so she doesn’t run off. I finally get everything together. I am walking fast, because she’s running. I’ve learned the hard way that if I run after her, she’ll just run faster. She doesn’t see me, and she’s walking; so I jog to catch up to her. I can’t calm her down now. She sees the playground and is fixated on it. Screaming she wants to go to the park. She’s clearly tired and not sure what she wants now. We get to Olivia’s practice field and of course they aren’t done. I’m thinking maybe I should just walk her home. It would probably be better than waiting. As I’m thinking this, Olivia’s practice is done. Thank goodness!
Payton is screaming even louder. A parent, bless her heart, ask if she can paint her finger nails. The parent is obviously trying to calm her down. Both Jimmy and I are thankful. Anything to keep her from screaming. She paints Payton’s nails and she calms down. Time to go now with freshly painted nails; but the screaming starts up again. We get to the car. This is a buckle and go situation. Again, we haven’t had to do this in maybe a year. As we’re pulling out P unbuckles her seat belt. Gosh dang it Payton. Get her buckled back in. We get home, and Jimmy has to carry her inside. I’m locking all the doors. Good thing to; because she comes in the back door and immediately tries the front door. Now a little of the finger nail polish has chipped off. Payton is upset and wanting to go to “the finger ladies house”. Finally I say ok, I’ll ask her where she lives and we can go tomorrow. Gosh I hope she forgets, because some times she doesn’t. Finally, she calms down and asks for popcorn. Both Jimmy and I agree at this point whatever we can do to keep her calm. She eats her popcorn and every once in awhile starts getting upset, but now she is using her breathing techniques. All of this happened in 45 minutes, but to us it seemed like hours. We get her to bed and she is out. Jimmy says next week he will take her to practice. He jokingly says she probably won’t do it with me, meaning she probably won’t throw a fit while he’s on duty. I laugh and say probably not. He always seems to miss out on the biggest melt downs. As I write this a week later, I can tell you her second practice went great. There were no issues other than a little playing in the dirt; but hey, other kids were to. As predicted, she didn’t throw a fit when Jimmy was on duty. He always misses the big fits. It kind of drives me nuts
