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Dear TJ,
I love how silly you can be sometimes, but I wish I could get you to be serious when I’m asking you questions. Every Tuesday and Thursday, we ask you what you did at summer camp, and you always reply, “Nuf-sing.” When pressed, you’ll make up something highly improbable, like playing outside on a day when it was thunderstorming, or chasing dinosaurs, or playing Pogo (online games).
I can’t get you to answer a question seriously when I want or need an answer. It’s very frustrating. When you laugh and say, “I’m just joshin’ ya!” it’s no longer cute or funny. (You like the saying because of your Uncle Josh.)
There is a small difference between joking and lying, and I really don’t want to have to tell you that constantly giving joke answers is the same as lying, because I don’t want you to lose your sense of humor. But you’re driving me crazy with this, and I don’t know what to do!
Love,
Mommy
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That’s me: Christina Gleason. I’m a writer, editor, and disability advocate. I'm a multiply disabled autistic lady doing my best in this world built for abled people. I’m a geek for grammar, fantasy, and casual gaming. I hate vegetables. I cannot reliably speak, so I’ll happily conduct business over email or messaging instead.
Joe does something very similar and it drives me crazy. If we ask him something, he’ll answer, but a follow-up question leaves us with the answer, “I don’t know.” or, “I don’t remember.”
We asked him if he went to see UP in WA with his cousin Randy, and he said “Yes, but not in 3D.” We then asked, “Did your Uncle Spencer go too, or was it just Aunt Ginna?” “I don’t know. I don’t remember!”
That gets annoying fast. He talks a lot and has an impeccable memory. It’s just he wants to talk about what he wants to talk about, I guess.
Good luck with this. It is a hard one to figure out. During kindergarten this year we had a problem teaching him what the word accident really means. We finally had to write lists of “accidents” vs “wrong choices” to help him understand.
My Dear Kid Saturday is also up: http://www.theangelforever.com/?p=1382