Some Light Reading

My day is trying to figure out what the heck the Doodle wants. It's become a game of charades that doesn't end so well.

I'm thinking about bringing this book with me to Disneyland for some light and enlightening reading. Oh but, wouldn't it be nice if reading this book could make it all better? Let's see, as I type this I have a possessed Doodle Bug laying on the bed next to me determined to take his pajamas off. We have to put him in one piece zip up the front footy pjs because he's really into putting his hand down his pants right now. He puts his hand in pants and gets his diaper all out of whack and then we have pee everywhere. So as I type this, he is determined to unzip his pajamas and get them off. All day, maybe out of pure boredom, he takes his clothes off and all day I'm chasing a naked Doodle around the house putting them back on him. He's even outsmarted overalls.

Earlier tonight he threw Papa Jerry's hamburger and fries on the ground. We've had maybe 10 throw himself to the ground temper tantrums today. I just walk away and ignore him when he does that but then he gets mad, starts huffing and puffing and then throws anything in his path on the ground. Then he gets a time out--locked in his swing until he can cool off or he forgets about it.

So now, as he thrashes around the bed, refusing to go to sleep and kicking the computer (I can see this is going to be a short post) I am getting more and irritated. It's bad enough I have to sit and watch episode after episode of Wow Wow Wubzy and that stupid Upside Down Show. I would love to call Super Nanny or Nanny 911 and have her come out and have a battle of wits with the Doodle. I think it would be really something to watch her try to fix some of these autistic related behavior issues.

Here Comes Trouble. No Really. Here He Comes.

Now that the Doodle is not seizing up to 50 times a day and because we have carpet down now on our tile, I am MUCH more comfortable letting him run around the house without my shadowing his every move. The problem now seems to be the havoc he wreaks and all of trouble he gets into when you aren't watching his every move. Besides throwing things in the toilet and locking himself in the pantry he's been busy climbing on things. He has no problem standing on the dining room table or climbing up onto a trunk to get into my bed or climbing on a chair in order to turn the channels on the tv. Either he's gotten craftier or maybe because he's feeling better because when he was having seizures I don't think he had the energy or the ambition to be the little dare devil he has become.

Half my day is spent telling him NO. Don't do that. Get down. Stop that. Put that back. Don't rip that. Open the door and let me in. Turn the water off. Turn the light off. Knock it off. And so on.

Our fabulous nurse has been telling me he seems "oppositional" lately...which is just a nice way of saying, he's being a gigantic BRAT!

Patience is a Virtue

I never thought these words would pass by my lips but I can't wait for the Short Bus to come to our house to pick up the Doodle.

This week has been a little hectic making four trips to the school for drop offs and pick ups each day. Jimmy has to be there by 8:30am and the Doodle doesn't start until 9:15am.

It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have the Doodle melting down in the back seat. Apparently he has a keen sense of direction and knows exactly where and what it means to pull up to the school and it's only been two days. This morning he freaked out when we dropped Jimmy off. He was trying to get out of his car seat and screaming, he thought it was his turn to go to school.

So that meant he cried most of the way home, did not want to go inside and eat breakfast or get dressed, he only wanted to get back in the car and get to school damn it. We got him back to the school and arrived 10 minutes early to receive a thoughtful reminder from the teacher that school did not start until 9:15 am, in other words...go home and come back when it's really time. Another reason I can't wait for the Short Bus to get here.

While he might have a pretty good sense of where he is, he has no clue about the passing of time or having to wait for something. Jim says he's a bit like a dog, no matter how long you've been gone he is happy to see you. You could be gone all day or for 3 minutes, it doesn't mean anything to him he's equally excited to see you again.

He did OK at school today. Not great. He cried a lot. He's having some difficulty transitioning from activity to activity, recognizing boundaries of where he can't go and learning how to be patient. He likes to go in and out at his leisure on his schedule. He has no sense of waiting his turn. At home, he doesn't have anyone to take turns with and he gets pissed off if he doesn't get what he wants exactly when he wants it.

Bratty? Check.
Autistic? Check.
3 Years Old? Check.
Spoiled rotten? Check.
Irritable from Medications and/or Seizures? Check.

I don't know where one bad behavior issue stops and the other begins. The bad behavior lines have been blurred since around January now. With all that he has to deal with medically and how the seizures must make him feel and because our hearts are breaking for him, we cut him a tremendous amount of slack...maybe too much.

We do what we can to get through the day and that's all we can do.