Love is Blind

I heard something hit the floor after I left Daniel at the computer to play a game. I ignored that sixth sense to go check, but I figured it couldn't be anything that important. When I went back in, my glasses were gone.

ME: "Where are my glasses, Daniel?"

"Deer in the headlights" look from him.

ME: "Oh, there they are, on the FLOOR, with your foot on top of them, lenses DOWN."

Oh, yes, friends, they are ruined. That's what happens when your 5-year-old uses them as a foot massager.

Children with autism struggle with understanding other people's emotions and expressing empathy. He continued to play his game while I lamented over my mangled glasses. I had to at least attempt to turn this into a teachable moment, though. PBS's Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (Fred Rogers Foundation) teaches these principles in their cartoon.

ME: "Remember what Daniel Tiger said? It's called "empathy," Daniel!" I was still mad at this point.

DANIEL: "Empatty."

ME: Yeah, EMPATHY. Remember?

Apparently, he did. At this point, he starts humming the song from the episode on empathy: "Thiiiiink about how someone else is feeeeeeeling....."

DANIEL: Mommy, are you happy or sad? I want you to be happy.

And so I ask you, how do you stay mad?  I'm not mad anymore.  Just half-blind.