But Enough About Me

What do you think of me?

The R.A. can be a smidge self-centered.  This manifests itself in his determined gait which veers for no man, woman, child, small animal, large animal, breakable object, spillable object, traffic, or any water form.  If the R.A. needs to get from Point A to Point B, heaven help the poor slob in his path.  The R.A. has been known to step on, push, shove, bump, or goose people out of his way.  And that's just when he's being polite.  If you catch him on a bad day you may be tackled or head butted.  Although his body is very slender, the R.A. does carry the bulk of his body weight in his head and he can do some serious damage with his noggin.  Talk about using one's head!

There is really no understanding about other people's feelings or other people in general.  Therefore the R.A. always feels comfortable helping himself to whatever he wants, whenever he wants it - if he isn't barking at his hapless caregivers to obtain it for him or if we won't get it, then he helps himself.  Like the time I stupidly brought both of my children to beach on my own.  Unfortunately we weren't all on the same page about what going to the beach would entail.  My daughter and I thought that would be swimming in the water.  The R.A. thought it would be fishing (we're at the beach - ha! ha!) through other women's beach bags and (always the overachiever) removing other people's fishing lines from where they were propped up in the sand.  Oh, yes.  What a fantastic day that was.  Good times!

Or take this very evening.  I finally sat down to eat dinner, operating under the assumption that the R.A. had finished his tasty banquet of Pringles, grapes, carrots, ketchup, and Dum Dums.  As I sat and began eating there was the usual activity - my daughter practicing gymnastics while dressed as the "Fairy Dog Mother" (not a typo) and my son alternating between ripping apart his toy area and arranging his Dum Dums on the floor - in other words, a typical night at home.  As I attempted to eat and read a book in the midst of the chaos, the R.A. climbed up next to me and began bouncing.  Although it made using utensils hincky I persevered.  The bouncing became more frantic and as I turned to look at him I nearly had my eye poked out by the bouquet of Blow Pops that the R.A. was thrusting in my face and demanding, "Open.  Open this."  Obediently I abandoned my coolish dinner and did as I was told.  Unfortunately I was unable to resume my seat as I had to finish dinner while standing at the stove.  Earlier today we had a new air conditioner installed in the kitchen.  To my mother's dismay the R.A. took an immediate interest in the air conditioner and spent the better part of the evening jumping and flicking his fingers in front of  it.  I guess he finds the cold breeze running through his crew-cutted head intoxicating. My mother wanted to get at least one full day out of the new AC before the R.A. started cramming gummies into its vents so I volunteered to stay in the kitchen with the R.A.  I have visions of spending most of my summer eating over the stove.  The R.A. shared his excitement by frequently coming over to me and punching me in the back.

This self-centeredness also demonstrates itself with photos.  As we are constantly attempting to introduce the R.A. to the world around him, we constantly show him photos and have him label the people in the photos. These photos are of various family members.  We also show him generic pictures - boy, girl, dog, etc.  He struggles with generalization.  Whenever we show him pictures of any boys or any babies, the R.A. always says his own name. I guess it really is all about him  But the other night it became very apparent that he truly believes he is the most important person in the world.  I was showing him the pictures on our fridge, primarily himself and family members.  The last picture I pointed to was one of Jesus.  The R.A. looked very solemnly at the picture and then pronounced his own name.  I know most Irish mothers consider their sons on par with the Messiah but seriously?