Two Iris stories
1. At 31 weeks, the upcoming baby is breech. I was explaining to Iris where the baby's head is and how I hope he gets turned around soon. She asked, "Would the baby be okay if he came out here (pointing just below my left ribcage)?"
2. We went to see a reptile show at the library earlier this week. The presenter brought out a California king snake and asked if anyone would like to hold a snake. Iris volunteered and was picked (probably because she seemed to be one of the older, calmer kids there). She did a great job following directions and holding the snake with both hands. The presenter then put the king snake away and brought out a large python. He had Iris hold the tail end while he held the head end, and they took the snake around for kids to pet. Afterwards, they came back up to the front of the room, and the presenter explained to Iris that really the best way to hold a large snake was around your neck and shoulders. Iris's eyes got real big, and she said, "No, thank you!". The guy started to drape the snake around her anyhow, and she ducked her head and stepped away, repeating loudly, "No, thank you!" The guy responded with, "Oh, he's not going to hurt you. It's okay.", but Iris just shook her head and said "No, thank you" one more time. The guy stopped pressing the issue and demonstrated with the snake around his own neck and shoulders.
As we were walking home, Iris asked me if I would've put the snake around my neck. I said that I would never put a big snake around my neck, but if I'd been standing up there in the front of the room, I would've been too scared to tell the guy "No, thank you" and I would've let him put the snake around me even though I wouldn't have liked that. I was really proud of her for being able to say No to something she was uncomfortable with and for doing so firmly and politely.
2. We went to see a reptile show at the library earlier this week. The presenter brought out a California king snake and asked if anyone would like to hold a snake. Iris volunteered and was picked (probably because she seemed to be one of the older, calmer kids there). She did a great job following directions and holding the snake with both hands. The presenter then put the king snake away and brought out a large python. He had Iris hold the tail end while he held the head end, and they took the snake around for kids to pet. Afterwards, they came back up to the front of the room, and the presenter explained to Iris that really the best way to hold a large snake was around your neck and shoulders. Iris's eyes got real big, and she said, "No, thank you!". The guy started to drape the snake around her anyhow, and she ducked her head and stepped away, repeating loudly, "No, thank you!" The guy responded with, "Oh, he's not going to hurt you. It's okay.", but Iris just shook her head and said "No, thank you" one more time. The guy stopped pressing the issue and demonstrated with the snake around his own neck and shoulders.
As we were walking home, Iris asked me if I would've put the snake around my neck. I said that I would never put a big snake around my neck, but if I'd been standing up there in the front of the room, I would've been too scared to tell the guy "No, thank you" and I would've let him put the snake around me even though I wouldn't have liked that. I was really proud of her for being able to say No to something she was uncomfortable with and for doing so firmly and politely.