Gum

Harvey really wants gum, but he doesn't really want gum.  He thinks he wants gum and he likes the idea of gum, but once he gets it, he doesn't know what to do and doesn't really want it.

This week I let him try a little gum, explaining that you chew and chew, but don't swallow it.  When you are done, you put it in the trash.  In 2 minutes he had swallowed it.  A few days later, he wanted to try again.  So I explained the rules of gum again.  2 minutes later he had swallowed it.

Julius tried gum this morning.  He chewed and chewed until I had him give it to me before going into Church.

When we got home Harvey wanted to try some gum again.  He asked me, "Is it a long time yet?"  I had told him he would need to wait a long time before trying gum again.  I let him try, but told him that he couldn't swallow it.  If he did, he wouldn't get to try again until after his birthday.  So he repeated, "I chew and chew and chew and then spit it in the trash."  He got his piece of gum, put it in his mouth and chewed 3 times and spit it in the trash.  We tried again.  I took half this time to show him.  He chewed and I chewed and he chewed for a few more minutes then asked, "Is this gum done being chewed yet?"  I told him no.  He chewed some more, "Am I done chewing gum yet?" I told him no.  I think he had the gum maybe 5 minutes before I let him stop chewing.  We will see when he wants gum again.