The Christianville Spirit: A Conversation about Anxiety-Answering a Parent's Question

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Makes You Wonder

August 30th, 2017-TCS # 559

Be Blessed, My Readers! Be Blessed?! That is a New and Different Greeting! Well, Before I get to My Newsletter I want to take a Moment to Mention Something. So, Be Blessed, It has a Meaning. You See, I am sure that You already know this but, There is a Huge Flooding event from a Hurricane occurring in Our PTLS Capitol City of Houston. It is from a Hurricane that I have dubbed it both “The Drunken Hurricane” (It’s Path was going in Circles) and “A Very Overwhelmed and Tired Two-Year-Old Hurricane with Tantrum that Won’t Stop”(Slow Moving Storm and Stuck in One Area with a Ton of Rain). But, In all Seriousness here, It is Really Bad down there, like Worse than Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Harvey will likely live in Houston’s History forever. Now, I want to assure you that Yes, Our Respective Doctors, Dr. Potocki and Dr. Lupski are Okay and They are Safe. It hurts to know that Our PTLS Capitol is going through that. So, Be Blessed. It is means to One, Be Blessed You are not in it and Two, Be Blessed that If You live down there, that You got out and You are Okay. People of Houston, as A Representative of Potocki-Lupski Syndrome (A Unique Chromosome Duplication that was named in Your City). Please know that We stand beside You in any Love and Support that You need. I am Very Proud of Our State of Texas because we came together to help each other not Hurt each other, Love not Hate. We love You, Houston!

So, with that said, on to This Week’s Newsletter! So, After I wrote a Newsletter Last Week about Anxiety and Being Overwhelmed, A PTLS Family Member asked a Really Good Question that really made me think. So, I am going to answer it by doing a Remix of A Newsletter I wrote about it. The Question was that Her PTLSer is one that wants to know Every Detail of An Event coming up and then, asks about it repeatedly. As The PTLSer does so, It increases their Anxiety before The Event so, They ask “Would it be easier to not know about Something until the Last Minute or would that make the situation worse?” They really Floored Me there! Because that is a Really Good Question to think of asking. And, It is a Very Challenging one at that! So, I am going to try My Best to provide an Answer via One of My Newsletters. This Newsletter was written on October 24th of 2012 (Refer to Newsletter 322). I hope this Answers Your Question. So, I included a Little background from another Rerun of This Newsletter to help you understand.

October 24, 2012, Just before My Brother’s 24th Birthday. On This Day in My Life, I had gotten home from The Dentist’s Office and I was wanting to share My Experience about My Anxiety. Anxiety, By the way, is Very Typical of PTLS Children (One trait, that if Given the Chance, I would take away; All others I would Leave) and Hopefully, This will help you handle it when It occurs. As They say in TV and Radio, Roll it Guys...

So, Last Thursday, My Mom and I had one of the best talks we’ve had in a while. However, as My Uncle Bruce would call it, “The context of it” wasn’t that fun and happening at the time it was happening. Now, don’t worry it’s not bad, I promise! You See, about 2 weeks ago, My Mom told me that I had a Dentist Appointment on Thursday, The 18th. She let me know so I would be prepared and not spring up on me like “Oh, by the way...We’re going to The Dentist today.” Now, the reason she told me is because having predictability is essential to us PTLSers because we don’t focus without it. Not only that but, the Anxiety increases as well. On the other hand, when I know about it, I obsess about it and I get anxious about it. So, usually when I’m told in advance, I get nervous and fret about it until the day of. Bottom line, I’m nervous the most the night before, the morning of, and when the event starts. So, that brings me to This Afternoon (it was Thursday when I wrote this). So, I was nervous as usual and we discovered that the appointment was an hour later than she thought, so we had time to talk, but it also gave me more time to be worried. Here is how the talk began. You see, Everyone, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE having PTLS and I wouldn’t give it up for anything, Nothing! However, there are parts of the behaviors that I would love to get rid, that one being Anxiety and, that was one of the first thing I told My Mom. So, she was wondering if I sit during this extra hour of waiting, and do nothing, does it help with my Anxiety? Unfortunately, No. In fact it only makes it worse because I obsess about it even more, because I know, wether I sit still and Watch TV or check Facebook, whatever the event is, it is still going to happen. So, she suggested that we hop in the car, start driving toward the Dentist’s Office and keep moving. So, we started discussing, how I feel about my anxiety and methods on how I can get through it and how she could help me get through it. This has always been something she wondered about if she handled me the right way when I was a Child. As far as the sitting still or delaying it, that only makes me frustrated because it just means the event in question is still in your face and it’s not going to move unless you go through it. So, then comes the question of “should I tell you about a week before or be like, Surprise! We’re doing This” (in this case, “You and I are going to The Dentist, right now.”) I told her that it would be a Defiance of Trust to me if she didn’t give me enough warning. Remember though that My Mom and I have a good relationship, I tell her what’s going on with me and she tells me some of the stuff going on with her. So, how would I tell the difference when someone says, “Let’s get in the Car”; does it mean that your going out to Dinner, to The Movies maybe, on a Drive (which I love to do), or going to The Doctor to get your blood drawn. So I told her, that I have to know about it because I need predictability and predictable outcomes. Now, It may make me nervous, physically sick to my stomach and fret to no end, but it’s better for me to know than be surprised with something like that. The only thing is that it is frustrating is to know I am going to get sick (which is very ugly, loud and embarrassing) to know that you can’t get around it. So, then the problem comes, when the event happens, what do you (the parents & Kids) do? Well, that’s the part that gets me emotionally confused (and it had me very emotional talking about). Whether you ease into it slowly or be out front about it, just make me do it. When it comes to Doctors, Dentists, and Needles, the best thing is just do it, be direct, but with a gentle firmness that gets it over with quickly. Once I get through it, I am fine. Now, I know PTLS Parents are wondering, “But, I don’t want to force it on them!”. Well, the thing is, you don’t have to force but, you have to push a little bit. I mean, as I told My Mom, “If you didn’t push while I was worried and getting sick to my stomach, then I wouldn’t have given a Love Note to Ali and she wouldn’t have known that I liked her” Other examples, I would never have learned to swim, go down a slide, snow ski, or performed in the Second Grade play at School (all which I really liked and didn’t want to stop after I did it), go into the 4th grade Economic Fair (because they had “Gak” and the sight of this makes me throw up), I would have never went out on a date, Went to Homecoming, had a Girlfriend, had a job or I would have never even have met My PTLS “Sister” (yes, it’s been awhile since I mentioned her). Now, I know your also wondering about the whole dentist appointment thing went, well I have an easy Gag Reflex and I was afraid that I was going to gag when I had to open your mouth. I do not like peoples hands and dental things in my mouth, so when they do I gag and get sick. However, a positive note, I didn’t gag this time, because Julie (the Name of the Dental Hygienist) was very nice and talked me through it, they had a T.V. for me to watch CNN, as well as the fact that she was very pretty. So the appointment went fine. I should mention though that these anxieties lasts until the event starts happening and then I start to calm down and have a good time. Anyway, the bottom line here is that your child can do a long list of things, but sometimes though, we need a little loving push to get through the anxiety we have and we’ll get it done.

All in All, remember that it depends on what the event is will tell if the PTLSer will be anxious about it and be able to get through it, no matter how hard you push them, but try anyway. This is what My Mom did and it worked.  

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Why do people eat Desserts when they are Stressed? Because Desserts is Stressed spelled backwards.  

The Christianville Spirit: School Days, Overwhelming Days

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Makes You Wonder

August 23rd, 2017-TCS # 558

Welcome Back to School, My Readers! Okay, actually, Your Children are probably have already been told that or will be told that! Yes, It is Back to School Time! The Time when Everyone, young and old go back to School. I guess You could consider This Newsletter, School. Because I teach you things that You may not even think about. How School is that?! Get It? Just figured that I would make a Joke for those actually Going to School, both Kids and Young Adults. Young Adults can go to School too via College. Anyway, on to This Week’s Newsletter! So, Speaking of School, Going back to School means at least for us, PTLSers, that We finally get into a Nice Routine. I remember I did. I obviously talk about The Importance of Routine in My Newsletters a lot. Routine is Very Important to us PTLSers. But, Here is something that I am not sure that I have talked about or have only mentioned in Brief. Usually, I mention it at The End of an Exciting Event in My Life that I tell you. Or It is in the Newsletter after. So, What Am I talking about? Well, Like I said Routine is Important but, being Human and having Out-of-Routine Events happen. That is a Given. Like a Vacation, A Family Road Trip, A Cruise, Someone coming to Visit, or Some Kind of Adjustment to Our Routine. The Thing that makes it easier if It is Predictable, but Again, that does not happen. I am reminded of a Question of One of The PTLS Member’s Boyfriend asked me at The Conference, Being that You need Routine, How do You come down from a Routine-Changing Event? Usually, It involves what I call a Recovery from Whatever Event. My Theory is that My Recovery comes from a lot of different factors like How Big is The Event? Lots of People or a Group of People; How Much of a Difference in Routine am I dealing with? For The PTLS Conference, It was 4 Days. For My Cruise, It was a Week but, with Somewhat of a Different Routine than My Own. and, Probably, The Biggest Factor, What is The Craziness Level in This? 10 being Lots of Activity and/or Distress (or Both) or 0 being I am going out to Dinner with Friends to a Familiar Restaurant. So, How do I recover from Something like a PTLS Conference? So, once The Event ends, I describe it as Driving Very Fast on a Highway and all of a sudden, There is Nothing pushing you, Nothing left to do except Slow Down and go back to Your Routine. To Me, that basically means, that I have to Literally Slam on My Brakes and that usually causes me to Need Time to Calm Down or What I call, “Coming Down” (In Kids, It would be called a Meltdown, only They cry, scream, and kick their legs) after all The Excitement. I have one after Every Big Event that I go to. What I mean is that I am Tired Physically and Mentally. I am Overwhelmed.

Sometimes, My Excitement gets to be Too Much for Me to Handle before My Big Event is over, There have been numerous times when that happens. Two Times that I really remember, Once while at Disney World when I was Kid and Another when We were driving to a PTLS Member’s House during The Stockholm and London Trip.  

After I have My “Coming Down” and Assess all of My Emotions, and Is It normal that I am having them. Then, I get into My Routine as much as I can but, Also It still takes a while to Digest, depending on The Size of The Event. PTLS Conferences (Refer to Any PTLS Conference Newsletter), Great Wolf Lodge (Refer to “Great Wolf Lodge” Newsletter), My Cruise with PTLS (Refer to “Cruise of a Lifetime” Newsletter), It took anywhere from a Week to Week and a Half to Recover. It does help to talk to My Mom about Everything, both exciting (which comes first) and then Emotional, It also helps to Listen to Soft Music (Back when The Great Wolf Lodge thing happened, I listened a Ukulele version of The New Zealand National Anthem. It is Beautiful, I recommend it!), I Take a Nap, or Watch a YouTuber driving on The Road and Listen to sounds of The Road and Bridges (I like Bridges more because They make a Better Sound). Just some Quiet Time with Little to No Activity is all I need. But, I know that all of Us PTLSers have the Same Needs like This, so I am not Alone. Only the Little Kids cannot express this well for a Parent to know what is going on, so The Parent complains of The Child’s Meltdown, not really understanding what is going on. This happened to Me when I was Little, but Good Thing, My Mom knew what to do and Still knows My Facial Expressions which She knows when I am Overwhelmed and Ready for a “Come Down”. When I was Younger, The Teachers could always tell when I had spent the Weekend with My Dad because of The Lack of Routine and Too Much Stimulation, I had My “Come Downs” Monday Mornings at School and They said, I could not focus. I would rock back and forth, hum, and Stim More intensely, and The Teachers had a Problem with getting me to re-focus. But, They knew that I would be Okay in a Day or Two and Back to My Old Self. All in all, Going back to School means a lot of Excitement both Good and Bad, We PTLSers love School, Love to watch The Kids, Just have respect for Our Need to withdraw to “Come Down”.

Thanks For Reading The Christianville Spirit. Celebrate going Back to School, Balanced with Quiet Time.

The Christianville Spirit: Surprises in My Birthday Week

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Makes You Wonder

August 16th, 2017-TCS # 557

Happy New Age Year to Me, My Readers! Wow! Folks, It has been quite a Week, This Week! I mean that like It was One of The Best Birthdays that I have had. I am a New Age now! I am now 30 Years Old! Can You Believe that?! I know I can’t! So, 30 Years Old. What do I know about 30 Years Old? Well, 3 in Numerology is a Good Number, It is a Godly Number. In Sequence, 333 is not only “God’s Phone Number” as My Friend from Middle School, Jeremiah’s Mom, Miss Marilyn taught me that. It also means Cosmic Yes! 30 is the Age, that when The Big Things in Your Life start happening. You find The Love of Your Life, You Find a Great Job, and Have a Family, that is if You want Kids. I have heard that You would have those by 30, So I am thinking that means before You turn 31. Then again, that is My Old-Fashioned Self speaking and Influenced from Watching probably too many Romantic Comedies and Hallmark Movies. So, A Question I get about being 30 Years Old, How does it feel? Well, It took a while getting used to it. I have found that It is an Odd Age because It seems Old, but Yet You feel Young still. It is Very Odd. 

You Know, in Life, Surprises come when You least expect them.  Surprises even start back to The Moment when You find out that Your Mom was Pregnant. She did not know that She was going to have Kids. After That, The Next Surprise is when Your Child is Born, You don’t know if It is going to be a Boy or Girl and It pretty much sets the Track of the Whole Child’s Life. After I was Born, My Mom was Pleasantly Surprised when She found that I was a bit More Unique than She expected. She was Surprised to find out that I had a Duplication of Chromosome 17 before it was known as Potocki-Lupski Syndrome and, then Fast Forward to My 30th Birthday where I had Surprises The Whole Week.

 So, What did I do for My Birthday? Well, as far as I knew I was going to FaceTime with My Brother back in Colorado, Maybe hang out with My Mom’s Former Student, Girl’s Group, and Go to Dinner with Max. Oh, but, as My Brother would say “You don’t even Knooow!”. 

So, I am sitting watching a Movie on Wednesday Night, My Mom is in Bed, Her and I are the only ones Home. Well, I heard the Dogs start barking and Then, The Front Door opens. I say “Mom?”, thinking maybe She went Outside for Some Reason. I look toward The Hallway and In walked My Brother. I say “Michael?!” I laugh at Myself the way I responded but, The First Thing I said “What are You doing here?”. thinking, Why is Michael here and How did He get here? Did He just Magically show up? Did Santa Claus in His Off Time, bring him? He actually came to Texas to surprise me! and, Shocker! My Mom actually had been keeping the Surprise from Me for like, Two Weeks! Bonus here! He was the one who planned on coming down to Plano to see me for My 30th Birthday. What a Great First Surprise! Oh and I had Him for a Whole Week! 

So, on Thursday, We were going to go to Dinner with a Friend of Ours but, She was not feeling good. So, We went to Downtown McKinney to Eat Dinner instead. After We ate Dinner, We stopped by that Texas Wines place that We went with Uncle Craig back when He was here and Then, I got Myself some Good Cherry Pie (My Favorite!) from a Place called Pie Emporium. They have Fresh Pies, with Fresh Ingredients, and Pies that are in Season. 

On Friday, My Birthday, My Brother and I went for a Drive. I showed him the New Cowboys Headquarters, Practice Stadium, and Hotel near it. The Hotel was Brand New (18 Days Old at The Time) and I wanted to see Inside of it. After driving through another “Life Style Center” as Uncle Craig would call it, We went to Dinner at My Mom’s Friend, Max’s House. That was a Surprise too! I thought that It was going to be Just My Brother, Myself, My Mom, and Max. It actually was My Mom; Max; Former Neighbors, Robin and Woody; My Mom’s Former Student Friends; Barb, My Mom’s High School Friend (The Person who found Paco); and, My Brother. It was an Awesome Dinner Party! It was Good to see Robin and Woody again! I really miss them as Our Neighbors! They were The Best Neighbors! It was One of The Best Birthdays I had had. 

On Saturday, another Surprise that was a Minor Surprise, but We got to have Dinner with My Brother’s Friend (and, My Friend), Spencer. We went out to have Thai Food. It was pretty authentic! It was good to see Spencer again. I have not seen him since Shortly after My Brother moved to Colorado, Two Years Ago!

On Sunday, was another Surprise! A Surprise Pool Party with All of My Neighbors That was a Total Surprise and I was Pleasantly Surprised! It was Fun to hang out and swim with them! I have to say that I have Most Awesome Neighbors! Very Loving and Very Supportive.

For The Rest of The Week, We did Memorable Things like We watched a Great Movie, Inside Out. Had Great Talks with My Brother. He got to meet My Great Friend, McKenna. I have to tell you, It was One of The Best Birthdays I have had. The Surprise of My Brother coming to Town really meant a lot to Me. All in all, The Surprises of My Birthday Week were Beyond Amazing!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Surprises in Life come when You least expect them. Sometimes They make up for The Sad Things in Life and Make them Better.

The Christianville Spirit: My Day of Birth

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Makes You Wonder

August 9th, 2017-TCS # 556

Happy Birthday Week to Me, My Readers! Yes, Folks! T his Week is what I refer to as “My Birthday Week”. Why Celebrate Just a Day when You can celebrate the Entire Month and Entire Week of Your Birthday? Genius Right? I would believe so! It is much more Fun that way. I still can not believe that I am turning 30 Years Old This Week. It just baffles me! This, However is the Last Newsletter of My 29th Year! I had a Really Great 29th Newsletter. I went to Spain and Spoke in front of PTLS Family Members; I went on a Cruise with A PTLS Family Member without My Mom, The First Trip I have done without Family of Mine since, like 5th Grade (1998). I have grown up a lot in My 29th Year. So, Adios to My 29th Year! So, This Birthday Newsletter is going to be a Little Different. Less than Traditional. So, Something that Most People don’t think about, Your Birthday is not just Your Birthday, It is also for Your Mom. Your Mom?! You would say. “It’s MY Birthday, not Hers!”. But, Here is the Thing, We would not be here without Our Moms. Our Moms giving birth to us. My Mom and I were talking about it one Night and I asked her, “What would You call the day of My Birth?”. “Mother’s Day of Birthing” and Everyone has one. In Other Words, In a way, Your Birthday is mainly about You but, also about Your Mom. So, What about Your Mom? Well, in Honor of Her, My Mom is Awesome! The Thing is about Your Mom is that You don’t realize how much She does for You from Birth to Now. I Thank My Mom for that Every Day and not just in a “Thanks Mom for Dinner” kind of way. After all, She birthed me, She burped me, She cuddled me, She took care of me, and Sent me to School among Many, Many Things. She does a lot too! She does a lot of Work (that is often Unseen, as to How hard she works) and Representation of not only Myself but, My Special Needs of Potocki-Lupski Syndrome (or PTLS for Short). That Alone deserves an Award! She does a lot of Work for Furthering PTLS and does not Get Paid (Which She should, just My Bias here!) and Eventually Will be! She tells me that She knew I had Something Special about Me and that I was Unique from The Minute that I was Born! From The Moment that She felt Everything giving Birth to Me, She knew She was going to be in for Quite a Ride! Not in the Very Least a Typical Up and Down Ride! How about an Up, Down, Upside Down, and Spinning Ride?! and, Quite a Ride that She has ridden up to Now and Will continue to Ride. Now, Imagine this Whole Ride of PTLS, Working Hard Unseen, and Raising Him Up. Comes to Her Oldest Son turing 30 Years Old on Friday! That is just Cray-Cray! I am not a Gift Receiving kind of Person (It is not My First Love Language), I would rather feel Love with Quality of Time. I would rather Celebrate The People that I know and Love as My Gift. So, that is My Gift to You. All in all, I Thank You to My Readers for Being in My Life. And, I thank My Mom for Birthing Me for You to be in My Life!

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Thank You for Being My Lifetime Gift. 

The Christianville Spirit: What's It Like Having PTLS- A Christianville Classic

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Makes You Wonder

August 2nd, 2017-TCS # 555

Happy August, My Readers! Yes, Folks! It is that time of Year! Not only is it My Birthday next week, My 30th actually. But, Something that comes with being an August Baby. It is Back to School Time! For Those in The US, We start a New Grade in August, where as in places like Australia, A New Grade starts in January or somewhere near that. Anyway, Funny Thing about being born in August, You learn that School always starts either before, on, or after My Birthday. I will tell you, it was quite Fun when School started on My Birthday. I actually met My Best Friend, Karleen on My Birthday in 10th Grade. Anyway, so This Week’s Newsletter is going to be a Real Treat, a Double Feature! Yes, My Readers! A Double Feature! So, A Couple Years Ago, I wrote Two Gold Newsletters that answer a Very Important Question that PTLS Family Members have, but might be too Afraid to ask and Hear the Answer to...For They fear that The Answer to Said Question may or may not be either The Answer They are looking for or The Answer They are wanting. However, I can assure you that The Question and Answer is not that bad. But, do take The Answer in Slow Segments. The Question is, of course, “What is it like having PTLS?” and I feel that These Newsletters explaining it should be a Christianville Classic! So, without further a due, This is The New Christianville Classic, What It’s Like Having PTLS (Parts 1 & 2). As a Reminder, All of My Christianville Classics are listed on My Newsletter Site. 

What’s It Like Having PTLS? (Part 1)

This Newsletter was written on November 28th of 2012 (Refer to Newsletter 327 or Classic List)

So, This Week’s Newsletter is a PTLS Parent-submitted idea that I’m going to take a shot at. You See, The question does come up every now and then about “What is it like to have PTLS” or “Why do you love having PTLS.” Now, for Me, I’ve lived through it my whole life but, I found out when I was 8 Years Old. The Doctors and My Mom told me I was unique and that I had something called a “Duplication of Chromosome 17” but, again in my 8 Year Old mind, I just understood that I was unique in some way. I was very proud to say what I had (and, I still am proud) but, I had a hard time explaining it to people, yes even Today. Of Course, My “PTLS Sister” will tell you what she has and tells you what she knows about it and says to “look it up”. Quite Frankly, though, I think that’s the best idea to do. However, when I was a High School age, we didn’t have a website or let alone ANY Information about it. Now, to answer the question of “What is it Like to have PTLS?” to me, It’s not a big deal that I have Special Needs (I am aware of it though) because I believe it makes me, Me. The best part about it that makes it a big deal is having PTLS Family Members all over The World. Of Course, with everything, it has Pros and Cons about it, just like Chicago O’Hare vs. Chicago Midway Airport, Irrelevant I know, but I wanted to stick that in there. Generally though, There are some wonderful perks to it, like that You don’t judge People by their looks or their story because we see the good in People, We have No Filter, which can be a good thing or bad thing depending on who you are listening to, and we love anyone and everyone, unless they really hurt us, then we don’t understand why people would be so Mean. If it were up to us, we would hug every person that looks Sad or who just feels sad. Then, there are the not-so-perky parts of it; the #1 less-perky thing about PTLS is the Anxiety. Anxiety can come from different sources like Trying New Things, the Doctor’s Office, or Irrational Fears. By The Way, We do have Irrational Fears that we go through, where it comes out of nowhere, strikes, and then goes away after a while. The next thing is Imitating, which can be Good or Bad depending on who or what your imitating. And the final one, It’s a pain when people look down on you, as if you are dumber or less-able than them, It’s where and why people call us, the dreaded R-Word. At Least, for me I get offended whether someone calls me the R-Word directly or indirectly. Even if they use it in a funny way like “That’s R-Worded” to mean that something is funny (I’ll save you from hearing or reading the word itself, but you get the point). Bottom line, I Hate that word. And Yes, I had a friend who did that a lot and I’m sure still does. So, He’s not My Friend anymore. As far as, Why do I Love it? Because it makes me unique and I love my “Uniqueness” plus, there are lots of Understanding PTLS Members all over The World and it gives me an excuse to visit those places. Understanding though, is the Most Important (I mean it with emphasis) part of having PTLS or Having someone with PTLS, whether it’s your son, daughter, cousin, or friend. Unfortunately, in some families, including my own, it’s hard for people to Understand. If you have Friends or Family that do understand, Never let them go and cherish them, because they will be your ringleader and on Team “Insert Child’s Name Here.” You need Cheerleaders in the times when we are Bullied or made fun of. I know I had Friends that protected me when I was younger but, didn’t know why. I didn’t know what a bully was until I got older. Now, I’m aware when people aren’t being nice. But, it doesn’t happen very often, thank goodness. So, all in all, just because people see me as being “Special” doesn’t mean, I’m not able.

What’s It Like Having PTLS (Part 2)

This Newsletter was written on December 5th of 2012 (Refer to Newsletter 328 or Classic List)

Well, Happy December, Everyone! This is My Most Favorite Month of The Year, more on that in a couple weeks. This Week, however, is sort of an extension of the question, “What is it like to have PTLS?”. I forgot to mention about 2 other major things about PTLS, that would be Imitating and Obsessing (we’ll call it OCDing) because we PTLSers have an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder behaviors sometimes. Now, I had a whole thing about Imitating, I figured that I had mentioned it enough in My Newsletters, but to my surprise and yes, some humor, You wanted more about Imitating. Last Week though, for those are new, I had written a little blip about Imitating and what it is like to have PTLS. So, anyway, let’s get to it! Imitating can be a good or bad behavior, depending on the source. Now, before you start asking, “What is the Source, you say?”. Well, The Source is what we’ll call, where the Imitation is coming from and there are many. The Main Sources that I look at when it comes to explaining is The Parents of The Children, Friends (Both Childs & Yours), Other Kids(Other Kids have a greater influence though), and Things on Television. So, considering that we listen to everything, wether we’re talking or not, we will eventually Imitate the things that we hear you saying or doing. The Best Rule to follow is if you want Good Behavior, put them around things of good behavior, in all the main sources. And, the same thing goes  for the opposite side. So, If you want your child to talk and I know many PTLS parents do, than you put them around normal kids who have good behavior. Here are some examples, When I was little (like 3 or 4 Years Old), The School that I went to, there was a kid who pinched people, so I started pinching people, so the teachers had to move me and the kid away from each other. For Eating, I didn’t eat very well but, I sat at a table with kids eating fruit and I started eating off their plates. I got in trouble but, My Mom was happy that I was eating. I learned to jump on The Trampoline, only when there were kids jumping on it, That was the best thing for Me. When the Speech Therapist would say, “Look at me” and turn my head towards her, I would do that to people who weren’t paying attention to me. I would turn their head and say, “Look at Me.” It’s not a big thing but, it was a big part of how I learned.  As for Me, I have Imitated since I was younger and I still do but not as much as I did when I was younger. When I was learning to talk, I would repeat the other kids, and they would tell me to stop repeating them. I did not know why they would get so angry with me. Usually, it takes a little while before I start to pick up whatever behavior I’m watching. Even the 2 Girlfriends I had, I Imitated their behavior; I talked like them, I thought like them, and I behaved like them. Anyway, now we move on to what can be (to outsiders and PTLS Parents themselves) an annoying habit, The OCDing. We PTLSers Obsess about different things; People, Objects, Interests, and Thoughts. So, usually we find something that interests us and we start to Obsess about it by thinking about it, talking about it, and researching things about it. The annoying part of it is that we don’t stop talking about it or researching until something new sparks our interests. For Example, After I spent a long time Obsessing about Ali, she was My 1st unofficial Girlfriend, I found everything with the name Ali in it and drove my Mom and Brother crazy always talking about it. After I broke up with her, I started Obsessing about New England, which was a nice change for everyone around me, but then it was a problem. Which to most people would think is healthy to think about other things besides the girl that you were with. Honestly, I believe that it helped me with getting over her because she was a nice girl. Anyway, I believe when I was around 7th Grade or so, I would pick a City or State to obsess about and they were odd places sometimes. Besides Atlanta, where The Smith Family lives, I would obsess (well, not really obsessing because I love Geography, but anyway..) I would Obsess about the places in between like Alabama, Mississippi, or Houston. In my head, I pretend that we lived in where ever I was obsessing about. When I was Younger, like back what we now call “The Mr. Jeff Era”(from 2nd to 5th Grade), we had a creek in the backyard and considering that I had gone to Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico with My Dad, I would pretend that Mr. Jeff’s House was the Welcome Center into Laredo, Texas, The creek was the Rio Grande River and, My School, Harrington, was in Mexico. I’m sure, My Childhood Friends hadn’t heard about this until now, or at least I don’t think. The tall-tale sign of what your child or myself are obsessing about is mentioned a lot whenever we talk about things over and over again, and never get tired of it. I have to be told to stop and move on to some other topic. Further toward My Present Age, If you have ever had a conversation with me, you would notice I’ve obsessed about Places like New England (like Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine); Norway & Sweden (My Neighbor, Woody, and I have discussions about that a lot); The Caribbean (like Jamaica, The USVI, and St. Martin & St. Barths;  How News, The World, History, and Politics all tie together; and of course a share of Girls including Girlfriends I’ve had, Girls I like, and of course, My Future Soulmate. I should also mention, if you haven’t noticed, that we like to repeat ourselves, it’s another thing that we PTLSers do called Repetition. So imitation is often when we are young, but not so much when we get older. OCD behaviors help me to stay focused, so I guess it is a Good thing. Repeating myself and talking about my Obsessions, Well, that might drive others crazy, but I like it and so I keep doing it.

All in All, 

if your kids are imitating, hopefully its all good things. If they have OCD behavior, be patient with them because it helps them to fell in control and stay focused.

Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. We all have our quirks and good reasons for them. Love us anyways.