{"id":6209,"date":"2023-11-01T06:18:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T19:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastover55\/?p=6209"},"modified":"2023-11-01T23:13:24","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T12:13:24","slug":"inspiring-grandma-barbara-trichotillomania-christmas-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastover55\/inspiring-grandma-barbara-trichotillomania-christmas-magic\/","title":{"rendered":"Inspiring Grandma Barbara: Beating Trichotillomania with Christmas Magic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201c80 Stories High\u201d by Central Coast local Dr John Irvine<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grandma Barbara shows her ingenuity in beating a problem with trichotillomania<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barbara was a very spritely grandparent who filled her grandchildren\u2019s lives with joy. Her house was always busy and smelt good and appetising. Whenever the grandkids were over, they\u2019d make cakes or brownies \u2013 and when her vegan daughter was visiting, Barbara would make a chicken veggie pie for those meat\u2013deprived grandkids! Every reader would have had, or wish they\u2019d had, someone like Barbara in their childhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But one particular grandchild had her worried. Young Olivia was a gorgeous four\u2013year\u2013old, very bright and well\u2013adjusted, but she suffered from trichotillomania! Olivia had become an involuntary hair\u2013puller! She would put her left hand over her head to twirl her hair into a single strand and then pull it out. Olivia only did it when she was tired or in bed while she sucked her thumb. As her hairline started receding from over her right ear, Olivia kept following it, and the bald strip above the right ear became more obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her parents had talked to her about it and had tried Rescue Remedy, thinking it was a stress thing. They had reminded her, cajoled her, and even tried a sharp \u201cAh, ah\u201d when they caught Olivia doing it in front of the TV. They had even changed her hairstyle to try and hide the erosion, all to no avail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But they hadn\u2019t tried grandma\u2019s ingenuity! Among her many talents, Barbara was also a great knitter, so she and I got our heads together to solve this family crisis! We knew that Olivia loved Santa, and Barbara decided to exploit that opportunity as we headed towards Christmas. She made a special bonnet for Olivia to wear to bed. This bonnet, which was held in place with bobby pins, not only had Christmas colours but also had Rudolph\u2019s red nose sewn onto the top of the bonnet as a pom\u2013pom.
Grandma had convinced Olivia that the other reindeer were looking where to deliver presents and were attracted to Rudolph\u2019s red nose, so if Olivia wore the bonnet every night, the reindeer would know where to call. Olivia\u2019s parents also put the yukky nail\u2013bite deterrent on Olivia\u2019s thumb to try and get a disconnect between the automatic thumb sucking when tired and the hair pulling. The combination worked wonders, and Olivia followed grandma\u2019s brilliant scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Barbara enjoyed the exercise too. Barbara\u2019s motto was, \u201cWe\u2019re never too old to enjoy our childhood!\u201d Grandparent, she may have been biologically, but in her heart, she was still the wondering child, loving the joy of Christmas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the way, Barbara said the trickiest part of the operation was answering Olivia\u2019s question, \u201cBut Grandma, wouldn\u2019t the reindeer know to come to our house when they saw our Christmas tree?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh no,\u201d she retorted, \u201cIt\u2019s Rudolph\u2019s red nose that attracts them\u201d. And Olivia, aged 4, let Barbara get away with that reply because Nana was perfect!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what\u2019s the message? If you want to get on well with kids, think like a kid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robert Brault is reputed to have written these words, \u201cToday, I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editorial comment:
<\/strong>I like this story and I like the message, but most of all I like Barbara. She\u2019s the sort of spritely Grandma every child deserves to have in their life. \u201cWe don\u2019t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.\u201d George Bernard Shaw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c80 Stories High\u201d is an uplifting collection of short stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things for those they love. They are from the memoirs of Dr John Irvine, one of Australia\u2019s most heard, read and seen Paediatric Psychologists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201c80 Stories High\u201d by Central Coast local Dr John Irvine Grandma Barbara shows her ingenuity in beating a problem with trichotillomania Barbara was a very spritely grandparent who filled her…","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6211,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[47,39],"tags":[75,96],"series":[115],"class_list":["post-6209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-lifestyle","tag-article","tag-dr-john-irvine","series-coffee-with-a-coastie"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastover55\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/09\/portrait-angry-young-woman.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastover55\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/onthecoastpublications.com.au\/onthecoastover55\/feed\/podcast\/coffee-with-a-coastie","embedCode":"

Inspiring Grandma Barbara: Beating Trichotillomania with Christmas Magic<\/a><\/blockquote>