B R A V E ✨ Yesterday I found myself buying “baby tutu” a mask. We were at the mall for a quick dinner, a long day after a week of doctor visits, skipped naps and a little big brave girl who takes it all so beautifully in stride. . Never bribe, never reward, never celebrate with material things but here I found myself on the way to our favorite toy store to buy her any %#^*ing thing she wanted because for all the medical shit she goes through some days, I would give her anything to make it better. . She’s been wanting a doll stroller for a long time but we’ve been holding off on it. So yesterday, while we were at the mall, I told her she could pick, the cheaper plastic crappy stroller that easily pushes or the more expensive sturdier wood stroller that’s a little trickier to maneuver. I told her she could have a think over it while we ran errands and had dinner. . We stopped by a beautiful pop-up store and she asked if she could get her doll a mask. Amused but so on board, I said sure. . Did you know dolls have very tiny ears completely unconducive to kid masks? 😂 We jerry rigged it a little barrette but I watched her so lovingly role play mama and teeny tiny w her doll. . Validating her doll’s feelings about how uncomfortable a mask is, how scary it all feels, reassuring her that she would help her keep safe, asking her if it was Mr Tricky (her nickname for anxiety) or if it was Tutu that felt that way 😭❤️ and I found myself tearing up because it’s all these moments that you are reminded as a specialist and even more a mama why we do, love, teach, breathe, Respectful Parenting. . For all these quiet moments like these where it all comes together, the role playing, the processing, the nurturing, her ability to learn because she feels safe and loved. Trusting, believing, able to separate that she is whole even in her stories. . (Continued in comments) . (Mask and face shield info saved in highlight)

Badass ghetto blastin' homemade jerry rigged Vietnamese sound system built into a fat assed TV from 1986 thumping the Snail restaurant in my District 4 hood. 🐛 + 🐙 = maybe a Snail Emoji