Autism As A Whole

Well, summer school has ended and the chaos never seems to end. I clean, they mess, I clean again. Physical fights and screaming throughout the day. I am not sure how every other parent does it without losing their minds. Any thoughts? I went camping with some friends and all of my children and it went pretty good. At least better than expected!! There were a few meltdowns but they were manageable. It seemed to be a stressful trip for me though because I was walking on egg shells not sure what would trigger them.

Nevertheless, we had fun and the best part was the kids faces when they went swimming in the lake. Chucky loved the Orange buoys.  My camera broke when we were there so that is an extra stresser cause I don't have enough right? Chucky has been having toileting issues as of late and I am not sure how to handle it. He is wetting himself throughout the day. Isn't regression great? I am so excited to clean pee off of every floor in my house. Yippeee!!! Sorry for the sarcasm but I did say I was stressed.

I haven't been blogging as much cause it is so hard to concentrate anymore. I cant sit here for more than 3 min without an interruption and then I never seem to get back. When I do, there is other things on my mind and I just cant write. I hope this gets better with school coming up and I can sit down and maybe finish some of the 50 drafts that I had started but couldn't finish but don't hold your breathe. I just wish some of this craziness would ease off for a little while. Well, that was a scream crash boom...... Gotta go!!!!

Mornings can be really tough. There are days that Chucky is easy to get ready for school and then there are the days he is not cooperating. Days in which he won't take a shower or get dressed. How do I deal with these mornings? I am actually curious how you deal with rough mornings. I think it is a method of survival for us moms. I have had to accept the fact that my coffee is usually going to be cold before I finish the cup and I should probably put pants on under my robe so that I can run to the bus without forever tainting the poor children's minds with my legs.

I must admit that the television is a wonderful help in the mornings. He has a set morning routine and it includes some TV time. Chucky never used to watch TV and I loved that, but I can say that it does help to motivate him. I allow the TV on when he first wakes and he can watch it for about 15 min before I have to start getting him ready. Then it is time to shower and we have to struggle with all of the sensory overload induced during this task. There are days he loves the shower and there are days even the sound of the shower is overwhelming for him. I remember when he refused to shower because he referred to it as mosquitoes biting him. Now he just tells me it is too loud. If anyone figures out how to turn the volume of the shower down, please let me in on that!

After he takes a shower we have to deal with the cold feeling he gets when he steps out of the shower. We won't even discuss the meltdown that occurs when the rug on the floor gets wet. He then refuses to get dressed because he is cold. Umm... last I knew, putting clothes on when you are cold, makes you warm. So, he runs into the living room where I chase him down and dry him off. Then we fight to get him dressed. At times he will put his underwear and shirt on. Pants are still a little tough for him but he has done it on his own on occasion. It is a major improvement to where we were last year.

After getting dressed we make breakfast which goes really smooth, once he decides what he wants to eat. The little booger will eat the same thing for a week and expect that food until one day he doesn't want to touch it anymore. Then I have to figure out what he wants to eat. LOL.... This is where it gets tricky because unfortunately I did not get ESP when I had him and therefore I cannot read his mind. Sometimes it is easy and then there are times it is trying. So he finally eats and we wait for the bus. Whew... what a busy morning. How do yours go? What makes it easier or harder?