Additional Needs

Love Language

Posted by Sarah Kirkpatrick on 8th April 2020 Additional Needs, Advice & Support, Disabilities

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Everybody looks forward to that moment they get to see their child’s eyes light up on Christmas morning, or getting up early to see what the Easter Bunny put in their basket. But what happens when you don’t get that feedback?

Gift giving has always been my love language, so having a child completely indifferent to the experience is something I definitely struggle with.

I’ve always prided myself in finding just the right gift, but with my own daughter I feel myself coming up empty in the idea department. 

It has always been difficult finding things that piques her interest, and even when it does it is generally short lived. It’s not to say she does not enjoy material things. She loves cuddling her squeaky stuffed moose, and like many toddlers she can’t get enough of her tablet. But, beyond that she could pretty much take it or leave it. I will say it does make stumbling on something she does like that much sweeter.

As time passes, I’m starting to figure out methods of blending my over the top love of gift giving during the holidays, and providing things that are fun and functional for her. A lot of the pomp and circumstance were more so me being self-indulgent than anything she ever desired.

I’ve learned to create sensory experiences for her, but still in the themes of the holidays for me.

She loves textures, music, and lights. There is so much to work with during the holidays that are a feast to the senses that I was overlooking. I was so worried about the present I forgot that she’d be much more excited about the paper it came in.

There is a beauty in having a child that does not need the materialistic things to feel satisfied. She would take tinsel and slime over a pricy toy any day of the week. I was so busy trying to mould her into a child that craved the typical experience, that I was missing out on a child who was completely appreciative of the beauty of the little things in life.