http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOrCt2KVn1I&fmt=18Spongebob

I have no idea why Leta has always loved Spongebob.  But she does and one of her earliest words was asking to watch her show, “Ba-Ba.”   And because Leta only has a verbal vocabulary of  about 50 words,  I have tried to pay close attention to the words that she does care about.  Leta can say “more”, “help”, “done” and “home” for example,  but she can only verbalize four words that represent activities that she likes.  And these are “ball”, (she loves to go with her dad to coach her sister’s soccer games),  “eat”…( leta’s all time favorite pastime 24 hours a day), and “Ba-Ba.”   Every weekend that she is home from school, she asks to do all three.  We obviously do not deprive her of  eating, soccer is a constant in our lives too , and then there is  “Ba-Ba.”   She knows how to turn on the TV and press channel 33, and like magic, she finds Spongebob on Nickolodeon.  So I had to ask myself, what is it about “Ba-Ba’ that captures the attention of my special needs child?  Leta has extreme ADHD.  Her attention span is 5 seconds long for almost all activities; art, computers, music, books.  She flits from one thing to the next and is in constant search of new stimuli.  Some days keeping up with Leta is the equivalent of running a marathon.   And last weekend was no different.  If she wasn’t opening the fridge for the 20th time, grabbing handfuls of last night’s spaghetti and meatball dinner, she was dumping 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle pieces on the floor then moving on to re-program my computer or paint the dog with a pink Sharpie marker.   Freud would say that Leta is all “ID:,  She has no impulse control.   But Spongebob captures and holds her attention, sometimes for 30 minutes straight.  This is sometimes the only opportunity I have for deep REM sleep , a shower, or a quick moment to fold laundry.  Most parents remember these days  from when their kids were toddlers, but Leta, 16 years old, is still in constant motion.    So Spongebob has been my savior.  Some days I send prayers of thanks to Stephen Hillenburg, the creator.   But he should also be thanking me, because we have spent the last 16 years of Leta’s life buying endless Spongebob merchandise.   We have been throwing Leta a Spongebob birthday party since she was 6 years old.   We buy party hats, plates, cups, party favors, noise makers and the all important Spongebob Pinata.  None of my other kids like to admit that this is their favorite , most rocking birthday party of the year.    The rest of the year, we are helping Hillenburg pay for his retirement home with purchases of  Spongebob pillows, cameras, laptops, bed sheets and musical instruments.

But back to my original query.  Why is Leta so fascinated with SB?

I decided to gather a focus group to find answers.  Actually, I just randomly asked my kids and a few close friends for their thoughts.   But their responses were deep and insightful.  Leta likes him because……..

Spongebob is kind

Spongebob gets into everything

Spongebob is crazy and loud

Spongebob is an eternal child

Spongebob sees only the good in people

Spongebob doesn’t have to be cool

Spongebob loves everyone around him.

Spongebob has no boundaries

And  then I realized……… That’s it!   Leta sees herself in Spongebob.  Leta is all those things, except the annoying voice.   Leta is an eternal child and has a heart of gold, just like her friend under the sea.  And to add my own deep interpretation.  Spongebob and Leta both live  in the moment.

As Spongebob likes to sing, “Everyday is the best day ever…”   Leta doesn’t think about yesterday or worry about tomorrow.  She always just enjoys today.

Maybe we should all be watching more “Spongebob Squarepants”.