Hailey and the Talker

This past week we ran into an unpleasant situation. Hailey was helping us out by putting Ashley to bed for us. Unfortunately she left the talker in Ashley’s room with her. Ashley ended up having a meltdown and shattered the screen of her talker. Now as far as I’m concerned the talker is one of the most important items we own. I cannot think of any other object I value more. It is the only means Ashley has to communicate with us. And it is ridiculously expensive. When anything goes wrong with it, this seriously affects our life. So when I walked into the room and saw the broken talker, I immediately felt many emotions – panic, anger, sadness, anxiety, frustration- I could have easily lost control. Then I saw Hailey next to me, her eyes filling with tears as she realized her mistake. I had a choice in how I reacted to my nine year old daughter, who was just trying to help, but did make a huge mistake. She understands the importance of the talker and was already devastated. First I hugged her and reassured her, we could fix it. I asked her some questions; we talked about what happened and what she could have done differently. That is why we pay for the really good and expensive warranty package. It makes me sad that Hailey is growing up in a world where she has to, at times, be responsible for her older sister with autism and expensive special needs equipment. I am so thankful that in that moment God gave me the presence of mind and self-control, not to make that situation worse than it needed to be. I hope that Hailey walked away feeling that when she makes a mistake she will be forgiven and that people are more important than things- even talkers. And that she is always very loved, even if she makes a really big mistake. Unfortunately I can’t say I handled the situation with as much grace, when I went upstairs to talk to Jason. Maybe, hopefully, next time. Originally posted June 2011