I have noticed it before, but today I got a mental hook on something that Grace does. If someone comes to visit, or if we go visit, Grace is often very clingy and quiet, just wanting to be held by us. She gradually warms up to the situation and people and sometimes there is a moment when she breaks through and really settles in to the situation.

There are two examples in particular that I can think of. One was today while Jason and Em were visiting. Grace knows them well but we have not seen them for a while, so Grace was very quiet and needy. Grace gradually eased into it, but at one point Em and I were holding a rope between us with a small plastic hoop on it. I lifted up the one side and the ring went sliding down the rope like a zip line. Grace thought that this was very funny and from that point on she really opened up and had some fun.

Another time was a while back when Ben and Fiona were visiting. Fiona let Grace pour some sand on her while sitting in the garden and from that point on she started having way more fun.

The situations made me think of icebreakers – it is almost as if Grace would benefit if we prepared or figured out a way to help her break the ice when she is being a bit shy. If we can time it right, and choose a good activity for the situation Grace might just settle into new environments and groups a bit faster.

Come to think of it, I would probably benefit from some icebreakers too – especially when going into a group of people that I don’t know well.