LJ Idol Week 36: Tiles
The lady is saying words at me again. She always says too many words, all the time. I want to cover my ears, but I know if I do, she will put her hands on mine and then she will move them down. I don't like when she touches my hands.
I am thinking about my hands, so I look at them. They are under the table and my fingers are moving very quickly. I open close open close open close them. It feels like there are magnets in them, like there is a weight and pressure in there and I like it. I keep watching my fingers and the lady's voice begins to sound like it's in a tunnel, moving farther and farther away.
"Joey! Up here Joey!" Her voice moves closer as she begins to say my name. "Joey!"
I am still watching my fingers and feeling them springing up and down, open and closed. Suddenly a giant intruder hand with pointy purple nails blocks my view and closes around my hands. It is gentle, but I can't move them. I don't like when she touches my hands and it makes the tunnel louder. I hum along with the tunnel noises.
"Joey." She moves her face in front of mine. I begin to move back and forth gently in my chair. It feels like magnets again, pulling and pushing me, and I like it.
"Joey," she repeats. "Miss Linda's eyes are up here. Look at Miss Linda's eyes."
I hate looking at eyes. They're bright like the lights on the ceiling in this room, and they flicker the same way, too. It always makes me feel like I have to blink too much and my eyes always want to look away.
I pay attention to Miss Linda's eyes, but the blue in them is very loud. It makes me think of the Very Bad Cloud I saw the other day. It rolled through the sky like the rest, but it was different. It had more colors, purples and blues mostly, and it made a sound like a radio turned up so high I couldn't hear how the song went. It did it all the way across the sky until I couldn't see it anymore. That's what Miss Linda's eyes sound like. I try to keep my eyes on her Bad Cloud Eyes, but mine keep rolling toward the wall. They want to hide.
Linda rubs her temples and stands just as her afternoon support Beth walks in the door. Joey seems to like Beth, so every day when she arrives Linda likes to pass him right over to her.
Beth pauses at Joey's side and crouches beside him. "Hi Joey," she says. "How are we today?"
"Hi," he says back to Beth. "Hi." He doesn't look at her face.
Beth stands and smiles at Linda. "So how's he doing?"
Linda shakes her head. "Honestly, it wasn't the worst day, but it wasn't great. One meltdown earlier, with that shrieking. It kills my head."
Beth nods. "It's definitely impressively shrill."
"Anyway," Linda continues. "We didn't get much done. I wanted to do some work on adding, but he wouldn't pay attention. Wouldn't even look at me. He didn't play with the other kids either. I don't really think we need to try with anything else today. I just want him to stay calm. Let's just let him play with the others."
"Do you want to play, Joey?" asks Beth.
On the word play, Joey smiles, still looking away. "Tiles," he says.
"Ah," Beth smiles. "That Mahjong game he loves. I'll grab it for him."
Joey likes when Miss Beth gives him the tiles. He likes to sit in the blue chair while he has them, because it makes him think of being in the sky. He can sit in the sky and look at the tiles, spread on the Earth Table. They're beautiful. His favorites are the ones that look like flowers. Those are the magic ones. The rest of them are the people. Some of them are boys and some of them are girls; some grown and some young. This one always is a baby, and this one is her mom, so they sit together. That's his favorite family, so they get the prettiest magic--they get the one that looks like a tall fern in the wind. The ones that are the magic are like fairies he saw in the movie he likes. They protect the families.
He arranges them all on the Earth table until he has a little town of different families. Some are big and some are small. Some are all boys, some all girls, and some are mixed. Whichever ones go together just do; he doesn't worry about why. And they all get a fairy.
"One, two, three," he counts inside his head. Three in this family. Another family is coming for dinner. "One, two, three, four." And all together there will be seven, and there will be two fairies.
One of the other boys sits across from him. He looks out of the corner of his eye to see Donovan. He doesn't want Donovan to be there, so he pretends he's not. He pushes the dinner party to the side. Donovan reaches out and pokes a tile. "Flower," says Donovan.
"No!" shouts Joey. "No play!"
Miss Linda is by the table in an instant. Joey never plays well with others, so she tries to be extra aware when other children are near him. "Joey!" Her tone is sharper than she thought it would be, and she swallows. "Joey, that's not very nice. Come over here Donovan, let's color."
Donovan is gone and Joey is glad. Now he can get back to the Dinner Party Families. These two are friends, so they go to this side. He moves them along the edge of the table. They are friends, so they play together. That makes them happy. This one is the big sister and this one is the little sister. They are fighting, because the big sister one won't let the little sister one borrow her sweater, like he saw on the show he watches sometimes. It makes the little sister one cry tears. She goes to the bottom part of Earth Table, because she is sad.
Joey's mom enters slowly, trying not to disturb him. She watches him play with tiles for a moment, then quietly asks Linda, "How was he today?"
Linda sighs. "He was alright. Only one meltdown. We really didn't get to do any work on adding today. I'm not sure if he understands the concept yet because he really is never willing to do it with me. And he still isn't playing with other kids very nicely. You really need to practice with him. All he wants to do is play with that Mahjong game, but he doesn't play it right. He doesn't understand the function. He just moves the pieces around. I tried to see if he would match them, since he likes them, but he only wants them set up his way."
Joey's mom nods. "I see," she says. "I know he's really stubborn. He does like stuff his own way. Should I be worried that he isn't actually playing?"
"Don't be worried," says Linda. "It's not really typical for kids like Joey to have very big imaginations. This is pretty normal. Manipulating pieces and just lining things up, making patterns--this might be the best we see. You're not going to see him actually doing imaginary play."
The Miss Linda lady comes over again and puts her hands on the edge of the Earth Table. She is touching very softly, so Joey doesn't mind.
"Joey," she says. "Look at Miss Linda."
Joey tries to look at Miss Linda's loud eyes, but only manages a few seconds before looking back at his tiles.
"Your mom is here Joey. It's time to go. You can have the tiles tomorrow."
This is a very good thing to hear, so Joey puts all the tiles back in their box. He smiles very small at the little sister one. They'll try again tomorrow, and maybe the big sister one will be nicer. "See you soon," he says inside his head.
I am thinking about my hands, so I look at them. They are under the table and my fingers are moving very quickly. I open close open close open close them. It feels like there are magnets in them, like there is a weight and pressure in there and I like it. I keep watching my fingers and the lady's voice begins to sound like it's in a tunnel, moving farther and farther away.
"Joey! Up here Joey!" Her voice moves closer as she begins to say my name. "Joey!"
I am still watching my fingers and feeling them springing up and down, open and closed. Suddenly a giant intruder hand with pointy purple nails blocks my view and closes around my hands. It is gentle, but I can't move them. I don't like when she touches my hands and it makes the tunnel louder. I hum along with the tunnel noises.
"Joey." She moves her face in front of mine. I begin to move back and forth gently in my chair. It feels like magnets again, pulling and pushing me, and I like it.
"Joey," she repeats. "Miss Linda's eyes are up here. Look at Miss Linda's eyes."
I hate looking at eyes. They're bright like the lights on the ceiling in this room, and they flicker the same way, too. It always makes me feel like I have to blink too much and my eyes always want to look away.
I pay attention to Miss Linda's eyes, but the blue in them is very loud. It makes me think of the Very Bad Cloud I saw the other day. It rolled through the sky like the rest, but it was different. It had more colors, purples and blues mostly, and it made a sound like a radio turned up so high I couldn't hear how the song went. It did it all the way across the sky until I couldn't see it anymore. That's what Miss Linda's eyes sound like. I try to keep my eyes on her Bad Cloud Eyes, but mine keep rolling toward the wall. They want to hide.
Linda rubs her temples and stands just as her afternoon support Beth walks in the door. Joey seems to like Beth, so every day when she arrives Linda likes to pass him right over to her.
Beth pauses at Joey's side and crouches beside him. "Hi Joey," she says. "How are we today?"
"Hi," he says back to Beth. "Hi." He doesn't look at her face.
Beth stands and smiles at Linda. "So how's he doing?"
Linda shakes her head. "Honestly, it wasn't the worst day, but it wasn't great. One meltdown earlier, with that shrieking. It kills my head."
Beth nods. "It's definitely impressively shrill."
"Anyway," Linda continues. "We didn't get much done. I wanted to do some work on adding, but he wouldn't pay attention. Wouldn't even look at me. He didn't play with the other kids either. I don't really think we need to try with anything else today. I just want him to stay calm. Let's just let him play with the others."
"Do you want to play, Joey?" asks Beth.
On the word play, Joey smiles, still looking away. "Tiles," he says.
"Ah," Beth smiles. "That Mahjong game he loves. I'll grab it for him."
Joey likes when Miss Beth gives him the tiles. He likes to sit in the blue chair while he has them, because it makes him think of being in the sky. He can sit in the sky and look at the tiles, spread on the Earth Table. They're beautiful. His favorites are the ones that look like flowers. Those are the magic ones. The rest of them are the people. Some of them are boys and some of them are girls; some grown and some young. This one always is a baby, and this one is her mom, so they sit together. That's his favorite family, so they get the prettiest magic--they get the one that looks like a tall fern in the wind. The ones that are the magic are like fairies he saw in the movie he likes. They protect the families.
He arranges them all on the Earth table until he has a little town of different families. Some are big and some are small. Some are all boys, some all girls, and some are mixed. Whichever ones go together just do; he doesn't worry about why. And they all get a fairy.
"One, two, three," he counts inside his head. Three in this family. Another family is coming for dinner. "One, two, three, four." And all together there will be seven, and there will be two fairies.
One of the other boys sits across from him. He looks out of the corner of his eye to see Donovan. He doesn't want Donovan to be there, so he pretends he's not. He pushes the dinner party to the side. Donovan reaches out and pokes a tile. "Flower," says Donovan.
"No!" shouts Joey. "No play!"
Miss Linda is by the table in an instant. Joey never plays well with others, so she tries to be extra aware when other children are near him. "Joey!" Her tone is sharper than she thought it would be, and she swallows. "Joey, that's not very nice. Come over here Donovan, let's color."
Donovan is gone and Joey is glad. Now he can get back to the Dinner Party Families. These two are friends, so they go to this side. He moves them along the edge of the table. They are friends, so they play together. That makes them happy. This one is the big sister and this one is the little sister. They are fighting, because the big sister one won't let the little sister one borrow her sweater, like he saw on the show he watches sometimes. It makes the little sister one cry tears. She goes to the bottom part of Earth Table, because she is sad.
Joey's mom enters slowly, trying not to disturb him. She watches him play with tiles for a moment, then quietly asks Linda, "How was he today?"
Linda sighs. "He was alright. Only one meltdown. We really didn't get to do any work on adding today. I'm not sure if he understands the concept yet because he really is never willing to do it with me. And he still isn't playing with other kids very nicely. You really need to practice with him. All he wants to do is play with that Mahjong game, but he doesn't play it right. He doesn't understand the function. He just moves the pieces around. I tried to see if he would match them, since he likes them, but he only wants them set up his way."
Joey's mom nods. "I see," she says. "I know he's really stubborn. He does like stuff his own way. Should I be worried that he isn't actually playing?"
"Don't be worried," says Linda. "It's not really typical for kids like Joey to have very big imaginations. This is pretty normal. Manipulating pieces and just lining things up, making patterns--this might be the best we see. You're not going to see him actually doing imaginary play."
The Miss Linda lady comes over again and puts her hands on the edge of the Earth Table. She is touching very softly, so Joey doesn't mind.
"Joey," she says. "Look at Miss Linda."
Joey tries to look at Miss Linda's loud eyes, but only manages a few seconds before looking back at his tiles.
"Your mom is here Joey. It's time to go. You can have the tiles tomorrow."
This is a very good thing to hear, so Joey puts all the tiles back in their box. He smiles very small at the little sister one. They'll try again tomorrow, and maybe the big sister one will be nicer. "See you soon," he says inside his head.