The Little Things That Drag Me Down

It's been a week ... of increased eloping, use of the middle finger, trying to peek in the neighbour's windows, and BM woes. I don't have a concrete "why". This seems to happen periodically. 

I have been sleeping in the living room, to make sure he does not leave the house at night, and driving him to summer program because I the morning routine must be rebuilt (again) and I want the rest of his day to go as well as possible. 

He is riding in the front seat because he kept popping his seat belt and making a game out of it. Much harder to do in front. After the initial pushback (which got loud and somewhat physical), he now cheerfully hops into the front passenger seat on his own. I still have to check his buckle as I drive.

As I type, I have the door next to the neighbour's double locked, with a big basket of laundry on the floor in front of it and doorknob jingle bells on the outside door handle, to make sure he gets the message to redirect to a different activity and alert me if he goes for the door anyway.

His aunt has been marvelous, patiently talking on the phone, answering texts, and getting him out of the house and trying fruits again. ABA will be thrilled. It does take a village.

And the laundry - there has been so much enzyme cleaning, cleansing ... load after load (thank the universe I have in-home laundry and we are not on rationed water). I have to carefully time the drying because we keep having heat waves and our home has no a/c. 

Behaviour outbursts from anxiety that comes from visits (that he tells me he wants) with his father, constipation, boredom, and hormones.

I breathe, try to fall into calm, and get through these moments. I am lucky I can recharge in quiet moments with music, time in my garden, and friends.

Sometimes caring for someone with autism isn't dramatic, but instead a constant drip of small things that interrupt trains of thought and tasks attempted. Both can be emotionally draining and exhausting.

Summer Reading: Senior Year

 It's summer. I love reading. I loved getting my kids into our library's summer reading programs. James prefers to be read to and only certain books. Like many activity, he prefers to not do this with me any more, but will do so with others.

Our beloved, local independent book store is having to close. I chose two books for James, and he seems to like including them with his ABA sessions (in addition to the eternal Matilda, by Roald Dahl).

Bad Kitty Gets A Bath

HiLo - The Great Big Boom

As someone who started a voracious reading habit at age 7, it's hard to have kids who are not the same. That will not stop me from offering it, and trying to engage them in the fun that can be had. Reading is reading, no matter the level.

Dental Solution - At Last!

I am so glad James recovered from his cold so we did not have to attempt a reschedule his big dental day. It's been a 2-year, nightmare journey to get James seen and his dental health dealt with so that he could keep his teeth.

Long story short -- hygiene and dental hygiene have been an ongoing struggle, made worse by moves, disasters, and years of life crises. The programs and family dentists we'd been using told me, once the pandemic allowed for dental appointments and he was actually in the chair again, that his teeth were so deteriorated his top adult teeth and possibly some of the bottom, would need to be extracted. 

That's 8-10 teeth minimum. He is 17 and has speech difficulties. His jaw will not be fully formed until maybe age 25. 

No. 

Some day I will go into detail about all the calls I made, and how we got sent in circles, but not today.

Enter James' aunt, who got us a referral to a dental group who deals with special needs and works with an anesthesiologist. They are about 20 minutes away. 

5 hours under general anesthesia and a lot of work and money later, all but 1 of James' teeth were cleaned, saved, and restored. They also took x-rays and gave him a fluoride treatment. When the doctor came out and gave me the good news, I kept hearing Etta James singing "At Last".