Big Step in the Right Direction

Last weekend, we actually convinced Maggie to spend the night at my parent's house. This was a huge deal because for the past couple months she wouldn't spend the night because she said she would miss me too much. Plus, over Spring Break, we went to see the Lorax. There was a preview for the movie Chimpanzee. In the movie, a baby chimp's mom dies and another male chimp cares for him. Well, this led to some severe separation anxiety with Maggie. She would go to school and stay with Rob and my parents, but would cry if she heard an ambulance, cry about missing me, and wouldn't leave my side when I was around. If I left the room, she would follow me and ask where I was going. We finally got it out of her that since she saw the preview, she's been worried that I would die. We would talk to her, and try to explain things to her, but it didn't seem to matter. Finally, it got to the point where I would leave her alone in my classroom for a few minutes at a time after school while I ran to the office, etc. I would not let her come with me. After talking with our school social worker, she said that's exactly what I needed to do. She said we needed to put her in those situations and then praise her afterwards for staying. While it took some strong coaxing, and even some bribery, she stayed up at my parent's house all day Friday (since she didn't have school) and spent the night, too! I'm not saying she's completely over her anxiety, but it is definitely better. She still cries and worries when she hears a siren, and I still have to tell her she doesn't need to go with me everytime I leave the classroom after school, but she is totally fine with Rob and my parents now, and she doesn't follow me everywhere at home. Hopefully, she'll continue to make strides in the right direction.