Not Eating ... Again

Another week of behaviour issues. Another week of being thankful James is at a school prepared to deal with them and James as a human being. The Staff and I are pretty much in agreement that James is not eating enough. Again.

Even as a baby, James had a half-hearted interest in food. It was almost as though he ate to be polite. Then stresses and sensitivities arose, complicated by periodic, horrific bouts of constipation ... and James decided to stop eating. BioFeedback was a blessing, and helped get him back on track.

I sound like a broken record, but the last two years have been incredibly stressful. James now takes a bite or two of his food item, then tosses it. He is growing like a weed. I have stocked snacks that he will eat that have as much protein as possible. I provide meals regardless of whether or not he admits to being hungry. And still, this persists.

To the people who say "they'll eat if they get hungry enough" - I once thought this too. Then I had to deal with people who have eating disorders and special needs.

We will be moving again. Hopefully it will be a more permanent and grounding move. We will get the nutritionist back on board and I hope to brainstorm successfully with the school and ABA to nudge James back into eating more healthily. The struggle is real. I remain hopeful that solutions will be too.

Countdown To Moving

So, after divorce, home sharing, downsizing, home selling, displacement by a devastating firestorm that wiped out 5% (over 5,600 homes) of the housing market and drove an price increase frenzy in home sales and rentals that is still playing out 2 years later ... we have found a place to call our own and are in (dare I say it) the home stretch. Literally.

James has been asking to move over the past year. I try to communicate the home buying and moving process to him, but what he understands is "move = now move". Wouldn't it be great if we had a kind of moving advent calendar, where every day you can open a door and see today's task that gets you closer to moving? I think that would help both James and myself.

Seems like every time I turn around, there are requests for more paper, some of which can only be released if I can find the magic someone to release other papers that will allow the process of getting the definitive papers prepped for release. I swear on the heads of angels, that if I did not already have years of experience with IEPs and hounding out resources to support my kids and hunting the people responsible for sanctioning them over the phone and emails, I'd be over in a corner curled up, eyes closed, and extremely depressed.

James has picked up on this, and there are behaviours at school. Some of them similar to bad days last year. The outcomes are different, because of the new school and the people who work there. "It's going to be okay. We'll work together on this" are the messages I am getting. From both the school and my loan manager.

Is it November yet?

Here, I found this interesting video online while searching for a "moving advent calendar"