After the shocking revelations from Meredith on that first day she told me she had pictures for everything (shocking because it was so different than how I think and that I never knew this about her), I HAD to tell someone about it. Poor Tom--as soon as he got home from work I rushed him into our room and told him, "You're never going to believe this! Meredith has pictures for every number and every word. She keeps them all in filing cabinets in her mind and she has this little girl named Merebith who manages all of the files for her. She wears a little school girl uniform and everything -- look at all these pictures she drew about it!" Then comes the response out of left field from Tom:
"I have a filing system...[long pause]...My guy wears khaki pants."
Holy crap. Seriously? No.way.
Tom described his little guy (no name) as a geeky file clerk from the 1950s who wore the aforementioned khaki pants, a white shirt, and glasses. Kind of Dilbert-like. Tom described his filing cabinets as those old clunky, wooden filing cabinets with an insert in each drawer showing a letter typed with an old-fashioned typewriter. Apparently the little guy also uses a big calculator whenever Tom does calculations.
That pretty much changed everthing. It was clear that this was some form of thinking that was genetic and passed from Tom to Meredith. I wasn't dealing with a totally unique child. I was dealing with a unique FAMILY now! How incredible--INCREDIBLE!--that neither Tom nor Meredith shared this with anyone (it was just how they thought, afterall...why would they think it was "different"), but independently had the very same manner of thinking...filing cabinets and little assistants. The beauty of it was that Tom could basically translate things that Meredith was sharing with me and explain it in more detail. But more than anything, Tom and Meredith would now forever have a special bond.
For me, I suddenly had a husband and a child that seemed foreign to me. I had to learn their "language" and try to decipher how they were different from me and what things they shared together. It was if I had to discover who they were all over again. It was exciting, but a bit freightening at the same time. It was a lot to take in to say the least. I was happy for Tom because for the first time in his life, he had some explanation for things. These discoveries would send our whole family on a journey--and our wheels are still on the road to a destination unknown. One thing is for sure, however, we all understand each other a whole lot better than before.
After much encouragement from friends, I'm starting this blog to journal the unique adventures of my daughter Meredith. More than anything, I don't want to lose the stories that she shares with me because as you'll find out, they are very intricate and dynamic diaries of her inner world. But first let me introduce myself.
My name is Angela, but I go by Angé. (It is pronouced Angie, but I was named after a great aunt who owned a fashionable dress shop in small town, Wisconsin. My theory was that she was adding a little flair to her name with the accent. It's usually too much trouble to find the "é," so I typically just write, "Ange." More information than you needed? I just hate that people think I'm calling myself "Ang" when I write "Ange.") I am a stay-at-home Mom married to Tom--another interesting character! I have two children--Meredith who is now 11 years old and Tyler who is 7. We live in Texas, but have roots up North. My husband and I met each other at the Unversity of Pittsburgh when we lived next door in apartments behind what used to be the old Forbes Field for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Fast forward through years of graduate school, long distance dating, first jobs, marriage, and raising two children. Things in this predictable life pattern changed dramatically when my daughter was 10 years old and in fourth grade. I discovered that she had a extremely vivid visual way of thinking and learning. And I mean extremely and vivid. I'll unwrap all the details on how I discovered this. Those discoveries have led to changes in our family relationships, changes in schools, discovering parts of my husband that I never knew, and discovering a whole new perspective on learning "disorders" and/or divergent thinking. I have come a long way and now I can truly say I admire and appreciate the gifts that the extreme visual minds possess--gifts that are so often misunderstood and unrecognized. I hope to share with you what I have learned and experienced and I hope you'll be entertained by my (or Meredith's) stories.
For those of you who may find similar patterns in your children, I look forward to helping you in any way that I can, for I have learned a lot. And what I've learned is not found in your typical parenting books. Fortunately, I see more and more information about parenting this type of child, but you wouldn't really know to look for these sources unless you knew what you were really dealing with in the first place. And even if you did access these resources, these are complex kiddos and I can't imagine anyone mastering how to parent them without lots and lots of practice. But by that time, they'll be up and out! We can still try though...
Oh, I almost forgot. I never told you about Merebith. Merebith is the little girl that helps my daughter Meredith with all the inner workings in her mind. You'll come to learn all about her soon. I have decided for now to type "Merebith" in italics to help you decipher between her and Meredith.
