Friday, May 15, 2009

Miss Mailman

One of Ricki’s biggest pleasures is that often, as she arrives home from school at 1:10, she is the first one to reach the mail (which arrives around noontime).
Strutting in with the self importance of the task at hand, she will start distributing the letters. Meanwhile, I am in panic.
Several of the family members are living out of the house, and their mail has to be saved. And anything not marked with a name, Ricki has a tendency to adopt as her own, meaning that I can miss important items.
But worst of all are the various things marked with my husband’s name. Almost all of these items are really for me, and my fear of missing a bill (let alone a friend’s wedding invitation) is considerable.
The problem is that anything she has to deliver to someone she can stash away in her drawers, planning to do it “later”, or she can put it somewhere where it is likely to get misplaced, blown in the wind, etc. In addition, she can take some items and simply chuck them out. (Like letters from the Down syndrome society, charity appeals, etc.)
As I write this, I am thinking of a solution. First, I have to sit down with her, and agree on the set places for each person’s mail. Secondly, I think that I should type up a letter or two for her to receive. Maybe if she gets some REAL mail, she will be less possessive about everybody else’s.

5 comments:

Ria said...

Writing a letter for her every now and then sounds like a win-win solution to me. Would it also help to have trays or mail pigeon holes so she can sort the mail when in the house? Just thinking out loud. I wonder what my little guy will do when he's older. He sure loves to rip paper now... hmmm..

G6 said...

I also love your idea about sending her mail. Is she into stickers and other "throw ins"?
Have you thought of one of those accordian folders for each person's mail, stored of course in a designated location?
I am endlessly fascinated by your creative problem solving!
Let us know how it works out!

ds.mama said...

Hello rickismom,

I really like your blog and I am learning so much from you. I have a blog dedicated to topics of interest to new parents of children with Down syndrome. I am hoping to have one guest post per month and I wondered if you would consider doing one, maybe for June. The topic I would love you to write about would be one or two (three, four, you pick) things you would have done differently with Ricki or for her when she was a baby if you knew all you do now.

You can email me at ds.mama @ yahoo.com and let me know. Thanks!

Marsha said...

I like the mail writing idea. In fact, I would love to send her mail from the states...if you don't mind giving out your address.
email me at marsha3x@aol.com

Cindy B said...

Three of my children no longer live at home but two of them continue to get mail at our address.

We have a magazine type wall mounted holder with everyone's name on it and their mail goes in there until they drop by and pick it up. I also have a slot for my youngest son, who still lives at home because he is forever leaving his mail around the house so this gives me somewhere to put it.

Having somewhere for Ricki to sort the mail would probably be an excellent idea - that way she has a job and she gets a bit more use from her reading skills.

I like the idea of writing to her. You could probably put letters in your mail box, without paying the cost of postage, just so she has something to look forward to.