As you may or may not recall, a week ago I was a big sobbing mess of a person after finding out that my sons PT thought my daughter needed PT too. I was blaming myself for nearly killing my children during birth and causing their "special needs". FWIW AF made her mighty return that next morning which explains a little bit of why I was a huge emotional disaster.
Anyway, this morning was DDs eval. Every single thing she did the three women doing the eval commented on how it was "bad". She sticks her tongue out too often, she always tips to the right if she loses her balance when sitting up on her own, she doesn't like tummy time for more than a few minutes, she uses the wrong muscles to pull herself to a stand, she doesn't reach her arms up high enough above her head...and on and on.
At first I was feeling devastated and
imagining all of the things that are "wrong" with my daughter and then I
realized something more valuable...I think the PTs are full of $hit.
Okay, maybe not entirely, but you get the point. Don't get me wrong, I
think that physical therapists are really valuable and can do amazing
things for children that really need them but I also think that due to
their profession they are trained to see every little thing as a problem
to be resolved.My daughter hates tummy time because she can't look at
things, she sticks her tongue out because she is learning to blow
raspberries, she was tipping to the right because her brother was
sitting next to her and she was wanting to touch him. I am not convinced
that what they were looking for showed a true picture of her abilities
but I digress.
I will follow through with the PTs
recommendation that Vivian get physical therapy along with Samuel but I
decided today to not let myself get too worried about it. She just
turned 6 months old. She is an individual that's full of spirit and does
things in her own time. She is sitting on her own, loves to stand, is
starting to scoot across the floor and "talks" constantly. I think she's
right on track and I'm not going to let myself feel guilty anymore. She
is the most amazing little girl I've ever known and I'm so blessed that
she's mine. Today I decided that my love of my children would never
again be tainted by guilt over something I can't control. I'm just going
to keep doing the best that I can and I am going to cheer them on every
little step and wobble of the way. I think that as moms that's a big
gift we can give our children, love and support.
Re: Follow up to DD PT eval freak out (long)
My son's had two PTs. His private PT (that was originally his EI PT) was wonderful. She made a HUGE difference for him. His school-based PT I wasn't as big a fan of. I didn't think either of the were really nit-picky at all though; they seemed to have a fairly good sense of what was appropriate for his age. If anything, his school-based PT had pretty low standards b/c she was so used to working with kids with more severe issues.
I agree though with trying to let go of guilt for things you had no control over; that can be a tough one but don't let it steal your joy. I'm glad she's getting services, it can't hurt and hopefully she won't need them for long. Hang in there! Sounds like you have two amazing little ones and are on top of making sure they get everything they need to grow and thrive.