Holidays are a mixed blessing at our house. In many ways we do things similar to hundreds of other families. But then we throw OLA into the mix and ramp up the extremes several notches. Thanksgiving was craziness and meltdowns. We had five days of togetherness - which on one hand is really great. But on the other hand it just heightens the insanity of our lives. Wednesday started off with a bang. Dad and OLA went the rounds the very first thing after they both stepped out of bed. What a way to start the holidays. We finally got everyone fed and back to an even keel. Things went pretty smoothly after that - they all went out to finish up the yard work before winter arrives. But then we got to evening and we took up round two. Shouting, screaming, name calling, throwing Christmas items (we were trying to put up the tree) the whole works. The day ended pretty much like it began. Thursday we tried to head-off morning melt down by being up and serving breakfast when the kids got up. OLA had other ideas - he was not eating so he could save room for turkey dinner. Never mind that it is 8:00a.m. and dinner isn't until 1:30p.m. A melt down disaster in the making. We finally convinced him to take a few bites of egg. We managed to avoid the melt until about 11:00a.m -KUDOS for us!!! Then by evening we did it all again. Friday and Saturday thankfully were fairly pleasant - with the exception of OLA trying to launch a piece of the Fisher-price nativity set every time he walked by - thank heavens it is Fisher-price and made for small but not so gentle hands. Though I'm not sure how others would feel about the reoccurring flight plans for the baby Jesus?!
Sunday morning started out with melt and ended with melt - because now we are back into the "worry about school" melt mode. This on again off again melting behavior (although nothing new here) has increased in frequency since last Wednesday- and I don't really see a reprieve until January. Holidays are a mixed bag around here - the normal hyped up excitement mixed with the inability to process and deal with all that extra emotion and energy. We aren't drowning yet - but we just might be by the time we get through Christmas!! Maybe I'll ask Santa for a life preserve as an early Christmas gift so I can stay afloat!! Just a thought!!:)
I don't know where you live but there is a place in Pennsylvania,outside of Philly, called The Family Hope Center. Might be worth checking into. I have not gone there but know of several people who have and they have had amazing results. Also, I have a 4 year old son that had many behavioral issues. To make a long story short we recently found out his Ferritin (Iron) levels were low and we have been giving him a supplement. The changes we are seeing in him are unbelievable. SO much happier, less aggressive and less impulsive. Does your son have sensory issues? Have you read The Out of Sync Child? I just recently came across your blog and have not read all of your entries so I apologize if you have mentioned this in an earlier post. I do know how hard it is living with a difficult child and I am so happy to see improvement in mine and I would just like to spread the word. Best of luck to you.
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