Nick will speak his mind. His speech is not always understood by others and often we become his translators. He also isn’t always aware of expected cultural social behavior. Sometimes this turns out to be funny, sometimes it is not so funny. In any case we all get to decide how to respond to his innocent commentary.
Nick really likes his food and has definite preferences, as we all do. If we’re at someone’s house, and the host asks him what he would like to eat or drink, he will list off his favorites. Even if Arden and I are telling him that it is not possible to have that particular thing, Nick will still ask for it. And in his usual manner, he asks over and over again.
If somehow the host is able to look around their cupboards or refrigerator and find what Nick has requested, Nick triumphantly looks at Arden or I and says, “See, I right, they have it.”
We have no response at that point. He is almost tyrannically smug about it sometimes.
Yesterday, we were having a nice lunch. Arden had purchased two different sweet things for dessert. When Arden asked if he wanted Trifle or Apple Pie, Nick looked at him, frowned deeply and stated, “Trifle AND Apple Pie!”
His speech was very clear. Arden and I both tried to reason with him that he needed to have less calories and he could have the other sweet thing tomorrow, etc. He would have none of that line of thinking.
He sat there quiet for a few moments and said, “A small piece Trifle AND Apple Pie.” He had thought of a solution. Arden and I both laughed and he did get what he wanted.
The lesson is, when you want something, and are faced with the reasons why you can’t have it; sit quiet and try and find a solution so everyone is happy with the outcome. Nick is very persistent and does try to create solutions to the problems he sees in his life.
Your problems might not be wanting two desserts, but I do believe that we all can learn from Nick’s process to get what we want.
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