Being Charming Helps

I was talking with my daughter’s in-classroom Braillest the other day.   I had asked her if she would be with my daughter just this year or if she would follow her through each year in elementary school. She said she would be with her, but she wouldn’t make it for that many years as she was retiring.

I had asked because my daughter likes her Braillest quite a lot.   I found out that the feeling was mutual.   Mrs. Aagaard said she has a good time working with my daughter because she’s so happy and positive.  She said she is also diligent, flexible and learns things quickly.   She said she would do very well educationally because she was already getting everything in a format she could consume it, even though she couldn’t see it.   And then Mrs. Aagaard said something I hadn’t thought about before.

She told me, “your daughter is also very friendly.   And that will take her a long way in life.”   What she went on to explain was that blind people have no choice but to ask for help sometimes.   You can be as independent as you want but when you can’t see your surroundings and the vast majority of the world's media is targeted at the sighted, you’re going to need help.

Being friendly, having patience and a pleasant personality will get you far in life.  Having those same characteristics when you are dependent on other people, sometimes strangers, to make your way in life is even more important.   Fortunately for my daughter, I don’t think she’ll have a problem in the making friends area.

The Big Boy Update:  My son has this bear he got from Nana a while back.   I think it was my husband’s when he was young.  It’s named, “Cutie Bear” and my son has some intense feelings for this bear, even though it never leaves the foot of his bed.   He told me tonight, “I always cry when I look at Cutie Bear because I want him to be alive.”

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:   My daughter and I went over to our Chiropractor’s house today to bring a laptop back we’d been fixing (my husband had been doing the fixing, my daughter and I were just doing the delivering).   There was confusion on the part of my daughter initially when I explained we were at their neighborhood.   She said, “they have a neighborhood?” and I realized she thought we were going to her doctor's office.   She asked, “so this isn’t where he makes the popcorn in my back?”  I said no, this was his house and there was a dog and he had two children as well that she could meet.    She did meet their dog and the two children all of whom were very welcoming and friendly.   The children had an unexpected surprise for her—three stuffed animals from when they were younger.   My daughter loves stuffed animals.   One was a huge black dog, named, “Black Dog” that she wouldn’t let go.   Actually she wouldn’t let all three stuffed animals go and was in danger of knocking things over as she held onto this large burden while wandered around the living room.    Tonight Black Dog is in her bed and has been given the supreme honor of having her, “soft blanket” put over him so he won’t get cold in the middle of the night.