Lily went to the audiologist today to make sure her hearing is ok. I wasn't too worried about it. I figured that if she wasn't hard of hearing, she was being a smart ass and tuning people out. Come to find out, the latter was true, sort of. She isn't tuning people out on purpose; it's a stress mechanism. When Lily is scared, upset, or stressed, her mind's response is to completely shut down. The doctor and I had to get her attention in the *middle* of her hearing exam, startling the crap out of her. She didn't even noticed she had stopped paying attention. She felt anxious about the test, but once we calmed her down, she passed the test just fine, no problem.
I hate that she is feeling stressed. I know at this time, with her parents being unemployed and our family being homless, and the new baby on the way in just a matter of weeks, there's a lot to take in. I know *why* she's apprehensive about everything. I just wish I could teach her how to handle her stress in a healthy way. I, unfortunately, don't know how. I react the same way when I become upset. I completely shut down, tune out, and sometimes even block creating new memories when met with an extremely stressful situation I couldn't even begin to handle, or become severely upset with someone/something.
I'm thinking, perhaps, trying a child psychologist, if even just for a little while until things don't look so grim, to help her cope with her insecurities and her fears. At least I know that, overall, she's a healthy child, just has a lot to go through for such a young age.
