It's a lazy Sunday afternoon, and we do not go out because the wife is resting. We are watching TV together, and Faith is playing with a Wiggles DVD cover.
She likes spinning the DVD in the box with her finger, and pulling out the DVD paper cover. The spinning is a sensory thing her autistic mind enjoys. Her brother, Isaac, also has his own DVD cover to play with (Disney's Fantasia, which Mommy bought for $5 at Bugis, allegedly original).
Soon, my 18-month-old sees the DVD cover that 姐姐 is playing with, and of course, it looks much nicer to play with.
So he crawls/ambles to her spot on the sofa, and she is still playing, oblivious to the the darkening shadow of her little brother.
Because of her condition and her lack of speech, Faith hardly interacts with her brother. In fact, if it wasn't for some recent incidents, we did not really know if she acknowledged his presence. We think sometimes that she merely tolerates his presence in her world, and does not know what to make of him.
I watch as Isaac approach his sister, knowing that chances are, Isaac will get away with yanking his sister's toy, because Faith never fights back.
Then, as he reaches out to grab her "toy". I saw the most amazing thing. Faith got mad, and pulled her DVD back from him, while giving Isaac an angry ""ehhhhhhhhhrrrrrrrrr!".
Taken back by his sister's surprising response, my Isaac stands there, his feelings hurt. He puts his hand to his eye, and looks postively sad. And I think he stood there, waiting for some sympathy from her.
After a long pause, I could not bear to watch his hurt look and went over, laughing, and gave him a big hug, saying, "Come, sayang. Next time don't grab your sister's things like that, ok?'
I turn to Faith, with a poorly hidden tone of pride in my voice, and say,"Faith, cannot do that. Must share with 弟弟, ok?"
I don't know if she understood what I said. But my daughter made eye contact with her brother, and told him off. And stood up for herself.
What a beautiful lazy Sunday afternoon.
