Ava: Periods of Silence and Solitude

Ava can be very busy, talking non stop, playing, constantly engaging one of us but she has those quiet periods when she just relaxes on the couch, the floor, on her bed with her cat and does nothing. Exactly nothing. No talking, just holding the cat and its tail to her nose (my favorite eccentric thing about her). She just looks like she is daydreaming, staring off in space, while lazily dangling her foot in the air or rolling about lazily, changing positions lazily, etc. Lazily. Those periods would last 15-30 minutes, almost everyday. This has been going on for a couple of years, less frequent at first.

It used to bother me initially. I thought she was sad and bored. I would try to engage her but she'd just look at me and smile, saying nothing. Sometimes she'd just ignore me. Sometimes she'd respond by climbing into my lap for a cuddle. Sometimes she'd bounce up and start playing with me. Now, I've learned to leave her alone.

She acts so extroverted and loves being around people but she still needs some alone time to replenish. She has frequently gone straight to her room and shut the door right after coming home from school. When she started doing that, I thought something was wrong! I checked on her at first but she would always either scowl at me to leave her room or shut the door on me but later emerge happy, ready for dinner. I learned to respect her alone time.

I totally relate because I'm the same way. It's interesting to see those tiny facets of her personality coming out.