Sunday, August 16, 2009

A microcosm of an ideal world


I've been watching my kids lately. I mean really watching, paying attention to their play and how they interact with each other and Finn.

Now that Finn is mobile, crawling around the house at will, he tends to gravitate to wherever the other kids are playing. They include Finn in their play without a thought. One of their favorite games is School. The four middle kids, Joey, Annabelle, Daisy, and Lilah, have been playing this for a long time. It's so elaborate that they all have pretend names they answer to (Joey is John Timothy; Annabelle is Janna; Daisy is Princey; and Lilah is Arma - don't ask me where they came up with these names - I have no idea). They now include Finn in this game. He is the pet dog (I assume because he crawls), and his name is Theedie.

This morning they were playing Pirates in the living room. They were jumping on and off the coffee table (yeah, they've destroyed it anyway, so it's a lost cause), which was their pirate ship, and the floor was the ocean wide. Finn was a pirate too, apparently.

Inclusion. That's what I mean.

In our house, Finn is not marginalized. He is not seen as a diagnosis, or a set of problems to fix or overcome. He is also not seen as "special." The kids know he has Down syndrome, and they couldn't care less. Finn's just Finn, that's all.

If only the rest of the world could be like this.

9 comments:

Lisa said...

And this clicks right in with discussion of the book "Disability is Natural". Looking forward to seeing what you think about it...

Mel said...

That is so cool :) Yay for brothers and sisters!

Elyse said...

I totally agree on inclusion and think that allowing Finn to be Finn is AWESOME!!!
~Elyse

Adrienne said...

That's just it, if only the rest of the world were like this than it wouldn't be that big of a deal to have a special needs child. Sigh. But Finn's brother's and sisters will always "have his back" and it's so nice to see that they could care less about the DS.

Brandie said...

Siblings Rock!!

Kristin said...

If only the rest of the world could be so open minded. You have done a great job mom. Keep it up.

Leigh Anne said...

cute! and love the names they gave themselves...so funny. kids are hilarious!

(oh yeah, i realized the other day that one of my aunt's used to call me Fin (still does actually)...short for her nickname for me : finners) haha...made me think of you all.

Ria said...

Finn's relationship with his siblings sets a fine example for the rest of the world. Matthew's cousins are the same way around Matthew too. It's beautiful.

Anonymous said...

He is WAY cute... I agree. My nephew has down syndrome, and my 8 year old step son just plays with him like he is any old kid on the street. Finn is very lucky to have some awesome bros and sisters and one great momma