We have been taking our guinea pigs with us to the park lately.
The guinea pigs help our PDAer out a lot…
With transitions, with staying regulated, with self-directed learning and as a conversation point.
I remember one day in particular….
We had arranged an afternoon playdate with a friend at the park.
Afternoons are a less ideal time of day for us so we went in knowing it could be on the tricky side and tolerance would be lower.
Our PDAer started stalling when it came time to leave.
He started suggesting we needed to finish playing a game first, have a swim first, have a snack first, before finally saying that maybe he just wants to stay home and that we should cancel.
There are many days where I would drop it.
Where I would just cancel.
Where getting out of the house is just too hard.
But on this day, my daughter and I both really needed to get out of the house, and I decided to see if we could get there with more accommodations.
We talked about how sometimes his brain wants to do things, but it can’t, and I wondered if there might be a way I could help.
I suggested a different way of getting to the park, riding bikes or driving instead of walking. I suggested taking favourite toys. I suggested taking screens.
All of these were falling flat.
Then I suggested we could take the guinea pigs in their carry cage.
We could show them the park and pick dandelions and grass for them to eat.
This got his buy-in and he excitedly said, “Yeah, let’s go!!!”
I’ve never seen anyone take their guinea pigs to the park before.
The thought that it’s not the “done thing”, that guinea pigs should stay at home, almost stopped me from suggesting it.
His friends thought it was the best thing ever that the guinea pigs came to the park.
Sometimes when we let go of the “shoulds” it turns out to be wonderful.
What a beautiful afternoon we would have missed out on if I’d let the “shoulds” get in the way.
