Mrs. Beasley

"A friend is a brother who was once a bother."...author unknown

We all know it is inevitable that our children will not always get along.  A couple of days ago, my daughter noticed my son playing with her DSi and soon began screaming that some of her special audio files were erased. He replaced them with his own unique recordings of his nearly thirteen year old crackling voice! She immediately went into an angry tirade..at me! "Mommy he "always" does things like this and you don't do anything about it because you don't understand what it feels like to have your things touched and broken!!!"

For a fleeting moment, she almost got me feeling guilty with her blame that somehow I'm responsible for everything her brother does wrong. But instead, after a couple of deep breaths, I calmly said that I was very sorry for her loss (respecting her feelings). But then I gently reminded her that her brother is responsible not me, and that going forward, she should try to remember to keep her belongings safe in her private spaces such as her bedroom or bags. And I then reminded my son that he can only use his own DSi and he needs to use his words to ask for help when he can't find it. Shortly she began to feel at least somewhat "less mad".


Later on we talked about it again, because, from time to time, I know she feels like these situations only come up because her brother has autism, as if a typical brother would be perfect all the time. This was the opportune time to remind her of "Mrs. Beasley".



Mrs. Beasley was my very special Christmas gift when I was about six.  If you do not recognize this doll, it was an extremely popular doll of the early 1970s, originally introduced by Buffy from the old sitcom "Family Affair".  Buffy used to carry it around claiming it said funny things to her.  I remember wanting one so bad for a very long time...this is a picture of Buffy with her Mrs. Beasley: 

My wish finally did come true, and how delighted I was to open my gift and find not any old Mrs. Beasley, but the "talking Mrs. Beasley!!". Quite innovative for its time, all I had to do was gently pull her chord and she would talk to me.  I remember gleefully puttering around the house, just as Buffy did, holding my Mrs. Beasley close and enjoying our little chats..

But, not for very long. I'm afraid my story does not have a very happy ending, as one evening my older brother, let's call him "curious boy", really wanted to have a "look" at her.  Of course, I did not want him touching my doll!  And as I continued to pull her chord, he at the very same moment decided to yank it away from me.  There I was left holding, not my beloved doll, but only the chord!  Mrs. Beasley was permanently silenced!  At this point, after a moment of shock, I was ready to let out a scream that would blow our roof off when suddenly....wait..confusion...gasp...horror!!!  What was my brother now doing with those scissors?!? ... Why was he performing surgery on my doll!?!  Within a couple of seconds, my Mrs. Beasley had a big hole in her, all her stuffing was falling out and all he did next was pull out her little voice box and say "Oh look.. it's a recorder..this is how it works!!"...as if he was trying to show me something really neat!! 

Don't worry we joke about this story now!  But it sure is a great example of how "all" brothers (and sisters!), whether bigger or smaller, older or younger, friendly or unfriendly, and with autism or without autism, have the potential to irritate, infuriate or even terrorize their siblings, and surely will...often!

For those craving some nostalgia - here is a video clip of the old show, Family Affair - maybe you'll even see Mrs. Beasley!  Enjoy!

Cheers,
Linda