December is here, and the setting has brought out all the Christmas decorations and music. Most of the children were interested in the Christmas tree which was set up in the ICT room. It had empty boxes which were gift-wrapped, which were particularly of interest to S'r.
B'a has begun using her injured hand. She still refuses to get it wet though. Previously, when it was time for the children to wash her hands, I have repeatedly tried to convince her to wash her injured hand as well, at which she refused outright.
Today however, after her initial refusal, I asked her if her hand would be dirty if she didn't wash it. She replied yes, and I asked if she would like her hand to be dirty, to which she replied no. I asked if she would like to wash it just a little then. She replied "Yea, wash it just a little", and slowly moved her injured hand toward the running water. Before her hand got wet however, she withdrew her hand, and said "No!" in a distressed manner. I told her it was OK, and that we'd wash her injured hand another time, maybe tomorrow then, and she calmed down.
I was asked to try to get S'r to sleep again today. It was mostly a repeat of the previous day, a wrestling match of nearly half an hour. Towards the end of the half an hour though, I tried humming to S'r. I don't know if he had finally tired out, or it was the effect of the humming, but he calmed down and lay still in my arms. He finally fell asleep, and I placed him on the mattress.
I felt a sense of achievement that I managed to get S'r to sleep, then I thought the other staff members probably do it every single day, so it was probably actually not a big deal. However, when I told S'r's room leader that he was asleep, her face lit up, she gestured triumphantly with her hand and went "YES!", which revived my little sense of achievement.
Moving Forward
When B'a told me she would wash her injured hand, I felt that she was gaining more trust in me. Hopefully she'll be back to treating her hand as normal, although unfortunately I probably won't be around for the remainder of her recovery process.
I was excited that S'r had gone to sleep during my humming. It left me eager for another go at putting him to sleep, so that I could try humming again. The other staff members would surely be elated if the humming technique proved effective in calming S'r.
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