Caroline Foran

Yeah, we have to go.

And of course, then you're like, this looks so bad.

So when there is play dates, I'm like a Montessori teacher.

I'm like, let's do this.

And then people say, oh, why don't you just sit back?

I'm like, I would if I could, but he will be on top of me saying, I want to go home.

I don't want to be here if I don't make him feel like so OK about it being there.

It's getting easier now as he's getting older.

Only in the last few months when he'd have a friend over and it would be one of my best friends with their kids.

It's only in the last few months where he might even leave the room that I'm in.

With the baby, his friend will run off and he'll go with them.

But then he'll be straight back to me.

So my husband and I can't talk to each other.

when we're with our child, which is most of the time, if we're having a conversation that, and this is, if anyone is listening with a PDA child, I'm sure they'll be like, oh my God, yes, oh my God, yes.

And it sounds bloody awful as I describe it.

But if we start to have a conversation that's not about him or with him,

he starts to get really activated and dysregulated.

So unless we're talking about, if you were to come over to my house and you were like, oh yeah, like whatever about work.

And I'd be like, oh yeah, Caitlin, didn't mommy have to do this for work today?

And that would just keep him calm.