Saturday, March 27, 2010

Mommy's Exhausted...

7:30 a.m.: Woke up. Funny really as I don't even remember falling asleep. My mind is already racing with all the stuff that needs to be done just to get us out the door this morning for soccer. First thing I think: The laundry is still in the washer. Second thing: Must shower. Showering is good. Very good.

8a.m.: The process starts. Move laundry out of washer into the dryer. (in order to accomplish this, I must first empty the dryer...have I mentioned my disdain for laundry??) Search through dirty clothes for Michael's soccer uniform. Realize that he did not put it in the dirty clothes from last time. Oh well. At least he'll have clean underwear on right?? At least, I think.

8:30-9a.m.: Get dishes done and start preparing breakfast. Michael wants mini cinnamon buns, while Nick gets his usual of two waffles. The dog of course goes in and out at least 15 times during breakfast alone. He is old and probably forgets that he just went out, among other things.

10a.m.: Breakfast is done and I am cleaning up our morning dishes. Let the boys do whatever for a bit while I watch a little TV.

10:30a.m.: Start the process of getting Nick ready to go. Change his diaper, get his clean clothes, and brush his teeth. At six years old he still requires most of this to be done for him, although he is getting a little better at helping at least. Michael starts to slowly get his soccer uniform on. This takes a while because he is watching TV while he does it. Somedays Nick even doing stuff on his own is faster than Michael.

11a.m.: Boys and me are ready, all that remains is waking up hubby and well, he can dress himself.

By 11:15 we are out the door and headed to the soccer field. The game starts at noon, but coach wants them to be there by 11:30 to warm up.

1pm: Game is over. We are all pretty hungry by this point and stop off to get some Burger King for lunch. By 2pm Michael had to be at the Youth Center for the end of season party. So, in less than an hour the kid had a Jr whopper meal, and pizza. You'd think we never feed this child with the voracity in which he devoured the pizza. One of his coaches asks if we will be at the Easter Egg hunt the next day. I say "probably not, because our youngest does not enjoy stuff like that". She walks away clearly puzzled and most likely thinking "What little kid does not enjoy easter egg hunts?" Ummm, this kid. He would enjoy being outside, but he would not grasp the concept of hunting for brightly colored eggs. On a small scale (like our backyard), sure. Not with a gaggle of other children and their parents. Can you say "Overstimulated"? The child met his social outing quota by being schlepped to see "Reptile Man" at Michael's school earlier this week. By the end of the program, I had managed to get Nick to the front door of the cafeteria-that was it. Fortunately, as it turns out, being on the outside of a room full of snakes is socially acceptable. We were not the only ones watching from a distance. Michael however, was right in there enjoying every moment. He's used to Mommy having to stand on the outside sometimes.

3pm: We finish with the Youth Center. (I did not take Nick to this-it was just myself and Michael). I actually got to talk with some of the other parents-what a concept! Afterwards, we head to Barnes and Noble to pick up the latest book in the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series. Michael has begged for it now going on about two weeks. I caved in finally.

By 5pm we have made it home again, picked up Nick, dropped off Michael, and head to the grocery store. 6pm we are on our way back home to unload the groceries, and start something for dinner.

7pm Lasagna is cooking, and I am making Ravioli for Nick. 7:30-bath time for Nick, and by 8pm he is taking his medicine to go to bed.

By 8pm I don't know who is more tired-me, or Nick. That was my day in a nutshell. I am tired just typing it!

Friday, March 26, 2010

Screaming, Biting, Banging....Had them all this week.

Another week is coming to an end, and I must say, I am glad it is over. Not that things have been that bad, just...challenging.

Last weekend I had weekend duty at work. So, I was put on night shift for two days. Which of course, messed everyone in my house up. Not sure about your house, but in mine, if mom is not awake during normal times-then everything seems to go south very quickly. Daddy tries to handle things, and for the most part he does a good job so I guess I should not complain. But, there are just things that mommies are better at doing. And the little boys of mine know that. For simply fun, you go get daddy. For everything else, mommy is where it's at. Needless to say, Nick was discombobulated-but held it together rather well. Sunday night however, we saw some disturbing behavior. I put Nick to bed with his normal dose of melatonin, and kissed him goodnight. About an hour later I am sitting at my computer in the dining room and I hear Nick just start screaming. Unusual. Especially with melatonin. I go in there to find Nick biting himself. He sits up and proceeds to bang his head on the wall. I try to comfort him, but it is no use. He simply lashes out and slaps me. He then bangs his head again. Words can not describe how helpless you feel when your child is locked in his own mind and cannot tell you what is wrong. After more than an hour of intermittent screaming,biting,and banging (the three ING's at our house), our only conclusion was that he might have a headache. I scour the hall closet for some Tylenol-we are fresh out. Damn! By this time it is around 10pm, but I don't care. I leave Nick bundled up on the couch with daddy holding his hand and go out for the Tylenol. First store closest to our house does not have any. Damn, Damn! I then head toward a gas station a little further away, and finally see the best thing in the world to me at that time...TWO whole bottles of Children's Tylenol. I snatch one up and head home. By the time all I said and done, it is midnight before sunshine gets to bed. I was hoping it was just a fluke episode-but it has happened a few times since then. Don't know what is going on; but I am going to ask his doctor next week when we go.

Speaking of that, I actually cannot wait until Thursday. Nick's language seems to be at a boost right now, and he is doing well in his therapies. When he is able to concentrate. And is not stimming at lightning speeds. He needs some more help. The mini tramp is good for re-directing his energy-but only goes so far. He cannot relax. When he is; he simply does amazing. I have also asked his doc for a referral to a chiropractor. One of his tutors mentioned Nick to him and now the guy wants to see how he could help Nick. He is not charging us anything out of pocket-just what insurance covers. So far, he has only treated NT adults, but is interested to see if he could maybe start branching out into treating kids on the spectrum. So, Nick will be his first ASD patient. Maybe it will help Nick be more comfortable in his own skin. All I want is for my baby to be his absolute best. Like I said, Happy Nick we can deal with. I am not looking to 'cure' him, or drug him for my pleasure. We have not come to this decision lightly. This has been cropping up from the back of my mind for a year or so. Diets & Supplements just did not yield enough results.