Re: Humping behaviors in my daughter...

[Guest guest]

Hi, you didn't mention how old your daughter is now. But is it at all

possible that she has been 'caught' by anyone other than yourself and has

seen a more negative response?

If she is recalling other negative responses associated with being 'caught'

then she may get upset just from the recall of those memories.

Again I think her current age would possibly give more clues, such as if she

is nearing puberty or in puberty, then the flood of hormones in her system

changing and fluxuating while she is doing this could cause her to be more

emotional afterward too.

Also just the disruption could be upsetting to her and she doesn't realize

or know how to handle that disruption.

I know you don't mean to catch her and have tried to be neutral about it

when you do, but maybe to avoid 'catching' her at all, you can have everyone

agree to knock on her door before going in (maybe even with a reminder on

her door to Please Knock or something)and give her a few seconds to stop so

that she is not 'caught' off guard. Would she stop if someone knocked?

Theresa

>

>

> Hi all...

>

> My five year old daughter, Ava was diagnosed with autism when she was 3

> years old. Since she was almost two, I often catch her humping stuffed

> animals in her room when she is bored or has gone to bed for the evening.

> Now, I never INTEND to catch her and I try very hard not to be discouraging

> when I do. And while this is obviously an uncomfortable situation all

> around, it isn't even the humping that concerns me as much as it is her

> incredible mood swings afterward. It interests me that she seems

> embarrassed... is this instinct? Perhaps she can read my discomfort?

> Immediately after being " caught " , her emotions run all over the place...

> from apologizing (which breaks my heart), to getting angry and yelling at me

> to leave her alone. I guess I am just wondering if anyone else has

> encountered this type of thing. And should I worry about her mood swings

> afterward? I just want to make sure I handle this the right way without

> creating shame or exacerbating her disconnect with her own emotions.

>

> Thanks for listening...

>

> Christie, concerned mama

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I apologize, Theresa, I thought I had mentioned her being five years old.  My

mistake.  And that's also why we don't have too many acts of privacy in place. 

I'm not used to her needing privacy, I suppose.  I have never really thought

about it...

________________________________

To: Autism_in_Girls_and_Women

Sent: Fri, February 18, 2011 4:58:50 PM

Subject: Re: Humping behaviors in my daughter...

Hi, you didn't mention how old your daughter is now. But is it at all

possible that she has been 'caught' by anyone other than yourself and has

seen a more negative response?

If she is recalling other negative responses associated with being 'caught'

then she may get upset just from the recall of those memories.

Again I think her current age would possibly give more clues, such as if she

is nearing puberty or in puberty, then the flood of hormones in her system

changing and fluxuating while she is doing this could cause her to be more

emotional afterward too.

Also just the disruption could be upsetting to her and she doesn't realize

or know how to handle that disruption.

I know you don't mean to catch her and have tried to be neutral about it

when you do, but maybe to avoid 'catching' her at all, you can have everyone

agree to knock on her door before going in (maybe even with a reminder on

her door to Please Knock or something)and give her a few seconds to stop so

that she is not 'caught' off guard. Would she stop if someone knocked?

Theresa

>

>

> Hi all...

>

> My five year old daughter, Ava was diagnosed with autism when she was 3

> years old. Since she was almost two, I often catch her humping stuffed

> animals in her room when she is bored or has gone to bed for the evening.

> Now, I never INTEND to catch her and I try very hard not to be discouraging

> when I do. And while this is obviously an uncomfortable situation all

> around, it isn't even the humping that concerns me as much as it is her

> incredible mood swings afterward. It interests me that she seems

> embarrassed... is this instinct? Perhaps she can read my discomfort?

> Immediately after being " caught " , her emotions run all over the place...

> from apologizing (which breaks my heart), to getting angry and yelling at me

> to leave her alone. I guess I am just wondering if anyone else has

> encountered this type of thing. And should I worry about her mood swings

> afterward? I just want to make sure I handle this the right way without

> creating shame or exacerbating her disconnect with her own emotions.

>

> Thanks for listening...

>

> Christie, concerned mama

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

You did mention that she was 5 at the beginning of your post. She is young

to be doing this, I think. Have you had her checked for yeast, discharge or

something physically going on? I think I would take her to an ob-gyn,

someone who specializes in precocious puberty.

Marie

> I apologize, Theresa, I thought I had mentioned her being five years old.

> My

> mistake. And that's also why we don't have too many acts of privacy in

> place.

> I'm not used to her needing privacy, I suppose. I have never really

> thought

> about it...

>

>

>

>

> ________________________________

>

> To: Autism_in_Girls_and_Women

> Sent: Fri, February 18, 2011 4:58:50 PM

> Subject: Re: Humping behaviors in my

> daughter...

>

> Hi, you didn't mention how old your daughter is now. But is it at all

> possible that she has been 'caught' by anyone other than yourself and has

> seen a more negative response?

> If she is recalling other negative responses associated with being 'caught'

> then she may get upset just from the recall of those memories.

> Again I think her current age would possibly give more clues, such as if

> she

> is nearing puberty or in puberty, then the flood of hormones in her system

> changing and fluxuating while she is doing this could cause her to be more

> emotional afterward too.

> Also just the disruption could be upsetting to her and she doesn't realize

> or know how to handle that disruption.

> I know you don't mean to catch her and have tried to be neutral about it

> when you do, but maybe to avoid 'catching' her at all, you can have

> everyone

> agree to knock on her door before going in (maybe even with a reminder on

> her door to Please Knock or something)and give her a few seconds to stop so

> that she is not 'caught' off guard. Would she stop if someone knocked?

>

> Theresa

>

>

>

>

>

> >

> >

> > Hi all...

> >

> > My five year old daughter, Ava was diagnosed with autism when she was 3

> > years old. Since she was almost two, I often catch her humping stuffed

> > animals in her room when she is bored or has gone to bed for the evening.

> > Now, I never INTEND to catch her and I try very hard not to be

> discouraging

> > when I do. And while this is obviously an uncomfortable situation all

> > around, it isn't even the humping that concerns me as much as it is her

> > incredible mood swings afterward. It interests me that she seems

> > embarrassed... is this instinct? Perhaps she can read my discomfort?

> > Immediately after being " caught " , her emotions run all over the place...

> > from apologizing (which breaks my heart), to getting angry and yelling at

> me

> > to leave her alone. I guess I am just wondering if anyone else has

> > encountered this type of thing. And should I worry about her mood swings

> > afterward? I just want to make sure I handle this the right way without

> > creating shame or exacerbating her disconnect with her own emotions.

> >

> > Thanks for listening...

> >

> > Christie, concerned mama

> >

> >

> >

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Oh I apologize, I apparantly blocked out the first sentence of your message!

LOL I read it several times and each time I seemed to start with the fact

that she was diagnosed at 3 but had been doing the humping since 2... And

now that I go back and read it again I see it clear as day (that's my

ADHD kicking in and my brain automatically editing information I read!)

I can see how it would be difficult to afford too much privacy at the age of

5. My 7 year old is not given much privacy either, from time to time she

will shut her bedroom door so that the dog will stay out of her room while

she's playing with a puzzle on the floor or coloring etc. But we have a

monitor on in her room all the time so even when we can't see her, we can

hear what is going on and if we need to go in.

There was some talk of this quite a bit ago on this group, if you search the

archives you may come across some info from Sondra, an adult on the spectrum

who sometimes posts here. I don't remember what she said exactly but I

recall her talking about how this was very self soothing for kids, generally

they find out by pure accident but once they learn and know that it feels

good or soothes them, then they continue. I remember her saying not to

really try and stop it but to just give the boundaries, such as the rules

are you can do this in your room with the door closed, but not in the living

room, family room etc.

I suppose if somone says that it's a symptom of yeast or something else then

by all means a trip to the dr. should be warranted, but I know that I've

read many books that say that this is perfectly normal, and some kids just

go through that stage. Of course for kids on the spectrum it can become a

stim and become more frequent than a typical child, but still normal.

Theresa

>

>

> I apologize, Theresa, I thought I had mentioned her being five years old.

> My

> mistake. And that's also why we don't have too many acts of privacy in

> place.

> I'm not used to her needing privacy, I suppose. I have never really

> thought

> about it...

>

> ________________________________

>

> To: Autism_in_Girls_and_Women

> Sent: Fri, February 18, 2011 4:58:50 PM

> Subject: Re: Humping behaviors in my

> daughter...

>

>

> Hi, you didn't mention how old your daughter is now. But is it at all

> possible that she has been 'caught' by anyone other than yourself and has

> seen a more negative response?

> If she is recalling other negative responses associated with being 'caught'

> then she may get upset just from the recall of those memories.

> Again I think her current age would possibly give more clues, such as if

> she

> is nearing puberty or in puberty, then the flood of hormones in her system

> changing and fluxuating while she is doing this could cause her to be more

> emotional afterward too.

> Also just the disruption could be upsetting to her and she doesn't realize

> or know how to handle that disruption.

> I know you don't mean to catch her and have tried to be neutral about it

> when you do, but maybe to avoid 'catching' her at all, you can have

> everyone

> agree to knock on her door before going in (maybe even with a reminder on

> her door to Please Knock or something)and give her a few seconds to stop so

> that she is not 'caught' off guard. Would she stop if someone knocked?

>

> Theresa

>

>

>

> >

> >

> > Hi all...

> >

> > My five year old daughter, Ava was diagnosed with autism when she was 3

> > years old. Since she was almost two, I often catch her humping stuffed

> > animals in her room when she is bored or has gone to bed for the evening.

> > Now, I never INTEND to catch her and I try very hard not to be

> discouraging

> > when I do. And while this is obviously an uncomfortable situation all

> > around, it isn't even the humping that concerns me as much as it is her

> > incredible mood swings afterward. It interests me that she seems

> > embarrassed... is this instinct? Perhaps she can read my discomfort?

> > Immediately after being " caught " , her emotions run all over the place...

> > from apologizing (which breaks my heart), to getting angry and yelling at

> me

> > to leave her alone. I guess I am just wondering if anyone else has

> > encountered this type of thing. And should I worry about her mood swings

> > afterward? I just want to make sure I handle this the right way without

> > creating shame or exacerbating her disconnect with her own emotions.

> >

> > Thanks for listening...

> >

> > Christie, concerned mama

> >

> >

> >

>

>

[Guest guest]

Christie -

I want to let you know that her behavior probably doesn't have to do with

her autism. When my oldest daughter was about her age, she discovered that

it felt good one time when she was climbing in or out of her toybox and her

privates rubbed against the edge. From that point on, I would find her

stimulating the area on other things. If I asked her what she was doing (in

a calm manner), she would say she was doing her " exercises " . Where she got

the idea of calling it exercise, is beyond me.

Since I didn't want others to see this behavior (yes it is embarrassing,

even though it is completely normal), I told her that this was something she

should do in the privacy of her own room. Because I didn't react with a lot

of emotion, she also reacted that way. You are right about the

embarrassment. She also seemed to know that what she was doing wasn't

" acceptable " . I didn't think a big deal should be made and I am sure this

helped her to move on and not get upset.

She is now 21 and a well-adjusted young lady. Don't worry too much about it

and just reassure her that if she feels the need to do this, she has to do

it in the privacy of her room and not around others. The more upset you are

or seem, the more upset she will be.

Anita

[Guest guest]

> Oh I apologize, I apparantly blocked out the first sentence of your message!

> LOL I read it several times and each time I seemed to start with the fact

> that she was diagnosed at 3 but had been doing the humping since 2... And

> now that I go back and read it again I see it clear as day (that's my

> ADHD kicking in and my brain automatically editing information I read!)

Lol Theresa...actually it's probably not your ADHD this time. I studied quite a

bit of cognitive science and psycholinguistics in college and what happened is

that while the ages you zoned in on (2 and 3) were written as numbers, 5 was

written as " five " . The brain favors pure numbers over numbers written as words.

It takes extra processing to make the translation. That's why is much easier to

read street addresses when they are written " 123 Main Street " as opposed to " One

Twenty Three Main Street " .

Hmmm...yes I kind of got off topic, but I love linguistic phenomena :-)

[Guest guest]

Good eye, . Even if that had dawned on me, I wouldn't have known why a

# written as a word is harder to read than #'s written as a #. Thanks for

the little tidbit. Marie

>

>

>

>

> > Oh I apologize, I apparantly blocked out the first sentence of your

> message!

> > LOL I read it several times and each time I seemed to start with the fact

> > that she was diagnosed at 3 but had been doing the humping since 2... And

> > now that I go back and read it again I see it clear as day (that's my

> > ADHD kicking in and my brain automatically editing information I read!)

>

> Lol Theresa...actually it's probably not your ADHD this time. I studied

> quite a bit of cognitive science and psycholinguistics in college and what

> happened is that while the ages you zoned in on (2 and 3) were written as

> numbers, 5 was written as " five " . The brain favors pure numbers over numbers

> written as words. It takes extra processing to make the translation. That's

> why is much easier to read street addresses when they are written " 123 Main

> Street " as opposed to " One Twenty Three Main Street " .

>

> Hmmm...yes I kind of got off topic, but I love linguistic phenomena :-)

>

>

>

>

> ------------------------------------

>

> The Power Pumper makes physical therapy fun! Plus, funding sources are

> available to provide a free Power Pumper to anyone who needs it.

> ------------------------

> http://www.powerpumper.com/friends/jrox.php?uid=bridalsh

> ------------------------

> Autism_in_Girls_and_Women-subscribe

> ------------------------

> Autism_in_Girls_and_Women-unsubscribe@...! Groups Links

>

>

>

>

--

Marie ‎ " Children with autism are not learning disabled, they are teaching

challenges. The question is not whether they can learn...the question is,

can YOU teach? " This is a quote from Dr. Carbone.

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

My older daughter, neuro-typical, also did this at te same age, with her

favorite

blanket or stuffed animals. She would do it anywhere. We told her that it was

a

private thing and she should only do it in her room. We gave her a sign for her

door

knob that she could " flip for privacy. "

Good luck - Amy

Posted by: " Christie B " pip_23@... pip_23

Date: Fri Feb 18, 2011 1:24 pm ((PST))

Hi all...

My five year old daughter, Ava was diagnosed with autism when she was 3 years

ld. Since she was almost two, I often catch her humping stuffed animals in her

oom when she is bored or has gone to bed for the evening. Now, I never INTEND

o catch her and I try very hard not to be discouraging when I do. And while

his is obviously an uncomfortable situation all around, it isn't even the

umping that concerns me as much as it is her incredible mood swings afterward.

t interests me that she seems embarrassed... is this instinct? Perhaps she can

ead my discomfort? Immediately after being " caught " , her emotions run all over

he place... from apologizing (which breaks my heart), to getting angry and

elling at me to leave her alone. I guess I am just wondering if anyone else

as encountered this type of thing. And should I worry about her mood swings

fterward? I just want to make sure I handle this the right way without creating

hame or exacerbating her disconnect with her own emotions.

Thanks for listening...

Christie, concerned mama

[Guest guest]

Christie, I can understand part of your situation. My daughter is 15 years

old. She has been doing this for awhile. It used to upset me. I won't say

that i never get upset by it anymore,but I have learned to let her do it in the

privacy of her own room. My daughter is non-verbal. She doesn't seem to show

any embarassment over this behavior and I try not to embarass her about it. I

am not sure if I am handling this the right way but I am doing the best that I

know how.

________________________________

To: Autism_in_Girls_and_Women

Sent: Fri, February 18, 2011 4:24:43 PM

Subject: Humping behaviors in my daughter...

Hi all...

My five year old daughter, Ava was diagnosed with autism when she was 3 years

old. Since she was almost two, I often catch her humping stuffed animals in her

room when she is bored or has gone to bed for the evening. Now, I never INTEND

to catch her and I try very hard not to be discouraging when I do. And while

this is obviously an uncomfortable situation all around, it isn't even the

humping that concerns me as much as it is her incredible mood swings afterward.

It interests me that she seems embarrassed... is this instinct? Perhaps she can

read my discomfort? Immediately after being " caught " , her emotions run all over

the place... from apologizing (which breaks my heart), to getting angry and

yelling at me to leave her alone. I guess I am just wondering if anyone else

has encountered this type of thing. And should I worry about her mood swings

afterward? I just want to make sure I handle this the right way without creating

shame or exacerbating her disconnect with her own emotions.

Thanks for listening...

Christie, concerned mama

[Guest guest]

My 12 year old daughter (PDD NOS) has a friend who is on the opposite end of the

spectrum (ADHD) who is 11. This friend has discovered the joy of masturbation

recently, by, as my daughter described it, putting her hand between her legs and

just moving her hand until " she made all kinds of crazy faces and sounds " . My

daughter told her friend to stop it, as she was bothered by this because her

friend had never done anything like this before, and her friend kept doing it in

front of her so my daughter went to her friend's mom and told her. Her mom told

her to stop it and that was the end of it that day.

I think my wife and I need to talk with my daughter about it in more detail, so

that my daughter understands what's going on, and that it should be done

privately, if done at all.

Our daughter is probably emotionally more like 9-10 in many ways, although she's

completely open and honest in her communication with us which seems beyond her

age level.

Here we go, I suspect. LOL I pray that it goes smoothly. That's all.

Thanks for sharing this. I found comfort in this thread, as this just came up

for my daughter a week ago and I didn't really know what to say or do about it.

I can see that we just have to talk about it, that's all.

>

> Christie, I can understand part of your situation. My daughter is 15 years

> old. She has been doing this for awhile. It used to upset me. I won't say

> that i never get upset by it anymore,but I have learned to let her do it in

the

> privacy of her own room. My daughter is non-verbal. She doesn't seem to show

> any embarassment over this behavior and I try not to embarass her about it. I

> am not sure if I am handling this the right way but I am doing the best that I

> know how.

>

>

>

>

>

> ________________________________

>

> To: Autism_in_Girls_and_Women

> Sent: Fri, February 18, 2011 4:24:43 PM

> Subject: Humping behaviors in my daughter...

>

>

> Hi all...

>

> My five year old daughter, Ava was diagnosed with autism when she was 3 years

> old. Since she was almost two, I often catch her humping stuffed animals in

her

> room when she is bored or has gone to bed for the evening. Now, I never

INTEND

> to catch her and I try very hard not to be discouraging when I do. And while

> this is obviously an uncomfortable situation all around, it isn't even the

> humping that concerns me as much as it is her incredible mood swings

afterward.

> It interests me that she seems embarrassed... is this instinct? Perhaps she

can

> read my discomfort? Immediately after being " caught " , her emotions run all

over

> the place... from apologizing (which breaks my heart), to getting angry and

> yelling at me to leave her alone. I guess I am just wondering if anyone else

> has encountered this type of thing. And should I worry about her mood swings

> afterward? I just want to make sure I handle this the right way without

creating

> shame or exacerbating her disconnect with her own emotions.

>

> Thanks for listening...

>

> Christie, concerned mama

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Christie, My name is and my daughter who is going to be 14 this month

started this at a very young age. I was freaked out by this. I thought how could

such a young child (baby) know how to do this. I was so embarrassed when she

dropped to the ground, laid on her back, in the middle of a gym, with a

basketball game going on and start going at it with her hand. This was the last

sporting event we went to. Anyway, we had her checked for yeast, bacteria,

parasites etc.etc.What the OT's and myself figured out is that it seems like it

is a self regulating behavior. When she was very young she would do this for

long periods of time and would come out of her room more alert and calm (I hated

it, but gave her the privacy). It has calmed down a lot now as time went on. Now

she does more of a picking at herself thing when she is fustrated but have found

that social stories have helped with, where she can and cannot do this. I'm not

sure if your child is old enough for this social stories book but it has a lot

of good teaching hygene, safety type stories in it. Taking Care Of Myself by

Wrobel. You could probly find it on www.amazon.com pretty cheap. Hang in

there I know it's a very hard road but our kids are sooo... worth it.

>

> Hi all...

>

> My five year old daughter, Ava was diagnosed with autism when she was 3 years

old. Since she was almost two, I often catch her humping stuffed animals in her

room when she is bored or has gone to bed for the evening. Now, I never INTEND

to catch her and I try very hard not to be discouraging when I do. And while

this is obviously an uncomfortable situation all around, it isn't even the

humping that concerns me as much as it is her incredible mood swings afterward.

It interests me that she seems embarrassed... is this instinct? Perhaps she can

read my discomfort? Immediately after being " caught " , her emotions run all over

the place... from apologizing (which breaks my heart), to getting angry and

yelling at me to leave her alone. I guess I am just wondering if anyone else

has encountered this type of thing. And should I worry about her mood swings

afterward? I just want to make sure I handle this the right way without creating

shame or exacerbating her disconnect with her own emotions.

>

> Thanks for listening...

>

> Christie, concerned mama

>

[Guest guest]

I have not read any of the other posts so I don't know what other advice

you have gotten.

My daughter is 16 and she started this when she was five. She used her

blanket. I taught her that she had to be in her room with the door closed if

she wanted " bouncey " (that's what we called it). We would not have been

able to extinguish it. The episodes could go on a long time and she would

get really sweaty.

She too began doing it less and less over the years. Now I just catch her

sometimes by accident. I don't acknowledge it.

I went to a sexual health clinic for people with disabilities several years

ago. The therapist said it was important to let the child masturbate if

they needed to and to teach about privacy.

It is actually a bigger problem for people with disabilities when their

physical limitations make it impossible for them to masturbate. Rages and

frustration only ever get worse and worse. There are actually some medical

devices to help different handicaps.

I know this sounds crazy at first. When the speaker started on some of

these topics in room full of people I wanted to die. As the day went on it

began to make so much sense.

I would caution about about making her think she is doing something bad.

That could have long lasting implications later in life about feeling bad

when she did it. I'm not sure.

Also, when our daughter started taking Paxil it decreased. Often side

effects of some anxiety meds is decreased sex drive and I always wondered if

that could have played a role.

Good luck,

In a message dated 2/19/2011 6:41:39 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

marcus_maryberry@... writes:

Hi Christie, My name is and my daughter who is going to be 14 this

month started this at a very young age. I was freaked out by this. I thought

how could such a young child (baby) know how to do this. I was so

embarrassed when she dropped to the ground, laid on her back, in the middle of

a gym,

with a basketball game going on and start going at it with her hand. This

was the last sporting event we went to. Anyway, we had her checked for

yeast, bacteria, parasites etc.etc.What the OT's and myself figured out is that

it seems like it is a self regulating behavior. When she was very young

she would do this for long periods of time and would come out of her room

more alert and calm (I hated it, but gave her the privacy). It has calmed down

a lot now as time went on. Now she does more of a picking at herself thing

when she is fustrated but have found that social stories have helped with,

where she can and cannot do this. I'm not sure if your child is old enough

for t his social stories book but it has a lot of good teaching hygene,

safety type stories in it. Taking Care Of Myself by Wrobel. You could

probly find it on www.amazon.com pretty cheap. Hang in there I know it's a

very hard road but our kids are sooo... worth it.

>

> Hi all...

>

> My five year old daughter, Ava was diagnosed with autism when she was 3

years old. Since she was almost two, I often catch her humping stuffed

animals in her room when she is bored or has gone to bed for the evening. Now,

I never INTEND to catch her and I try very hard not to be discouraging when

I do. And while this is obviously an uncomfortable situation all around, it

isn't even the humping that concerns me as much as it is her incredible

mood swings afterward. It interests me that she seems embarrassed... is this

instinct? Perhaps she can read my discomfort? Immediately after being

" caught " , her emotions run all over the place... from apologizing (which breaks

my heart), to getting angry and yelling at me to leave her alone. I guess

I am just wondering if anyone else has encountered this type of thing. And

should I worry about her mood swings afterward? I just want to make sure I

handle this the right way without creating shame or exacerbating her d

isconnect with her own emotions.

>

> Thanks for listening...

>

> Christie, concerned mama

>

[Guest guest]

My daughter did the similar behavior when she was younger, she is now 22 years

old, the behavior stopped as she got older. I was told that if she has her head

lower the rest of her body and the motion, it was help her to get to sleep. I

was told it was not really a humping behavior it is more a natural behavior. It

happens, she grew out of the behavior and all these years later it never

returned.

Bev

>

> Hi all...

>

> My five year old daughter, Ava was diagnosed with autism when she was 3 years

old. Since she was almost two, I often catch her humping stuffed animals in her

room when she is bored or has gone to bed for the evening. Now, I never INTEND

to catch her and I try very hard not to be discouraging when I do. And while

this is obviously an uncomfortable situation all around, it isn't even the

humping that concerns me as much as it is her incredible mood swings afterward.

It interests me that she seems embarrassed... is this instinct? Perhaps she can

read my discomfort? Immediately after being " caught " , her emotions run all over

the place... from apologizing (which breaks my heart), to getting angry and

yelling at me to leave her alone. I guess I am just wondering if anyone else

has encountered this type of thing. And should I worry about her mood swings

afterward? I just want to make sure I handle this the right way without creating

shame or exacerbating her disconnect with her own emotions.

>

> Thanks for listening...

>

> Christie, concerned mama

>