I'm breaking this up into two posts because I've been short on time this week. Just catching up.
Kiddo has the occasional off day, when his hypersensitivity is extra-sensitive or he can't stay in place for more than a nanosecond or he stomps around in an evil mood because his understimulated brain craves the drama. So that might have been his problem this past weekend. Or he was acting out because DH was out of town for work. Or the 6 p.m. birthday party he went to threw off his sleep schedule (though he did have a blast at it). Or who knows. But he spent most of Sunday being thoroughly whiny and unpleasant and having those tantrums in which he collapses to the floor and wails. Something you'd expect from a 3-year-old, maybe not an almost 7-year-old, but ADHDers tend to be behind their peers emotionally and behaviorally. I can handle two or three of those fits, but when it's more like seven or eight within two hours, yeah, I'm done. Especially when one is in the middle of church.
Actually one was in the parking lot outside church, because I wouldn't let him bring his noise-making Angry Bird toy inside, on the grounds that it might make noise. It got to the point where I walked kiddette back to the car and started strapping her back in, because I didn't think he would make it inside. After that was the tantrum inside church, when he darted off toward the snack table again, I darted after him and grabbed him away (the kids had literally just had their own snack) and he collapsed on the floor. In front of everyone. It's probably just my imagination that we instantly became the center of attention. Right? It is not my imagination, however, that one of the adults announced jokingly, "It's the RE eater!" Oh good, thanks for the nickname. Appreciate that.
Some of the other adults -- as in, the ones who have kids -- tried to help, telling kiddo he needed to listen to me and such. But I still ended up dragging him to the other side of the room to start getting the kids ready to go. At which point one of the other kids, clearly sent over by a parent, brought him an apple slice. Which was nice. Really. But also entirely defeating the purpose of my dragging him away from the snack table in the first place.
I'm feeling like maybe we need to reconsider this church thing.
That wasn't the end of the tantrums, of course, because he threw a few more during the post-church playdate, about sharing toys and cleaning up, at which point I hauled them both home and quit attempting the model-parent act, being thoroughly angry and growly, and made them both take naps. Kiddo was out like a light, proving that what I really should've done was skipped church entirely and sent them to bed for half the afternoon, but the other mom and I have been trying to schedule a playdate for a month-plus. I want kiddo to have a social life, but what if he keeps getting in his own way?
And why does kiddette keep having to suffer indirectly from her brother's wrath? I honestly don't know what to do about that.
Kiddo has the occasional off day, when his hypersensitivity is extra-sensitive or he can't stay in place for more than a nanosecond or he stomps around in an evil mood because his understimulated brain craves the drama. So that might have been his problem this past weekend. Or he was acting out because DH was out of town for work. Or the 6 p.m. birthday party he went to threw off his sleep schedule (though he did have a blast at it). Or who knows. But he spent most of Sunday being thoroughly whiny and unpleasant and having those tantrums in which he collapses to the floor and wails. Something you'd expect from a 3-year-old, maybe not an almost 7-year-old, but ADHDers tend to be behind their peers emotionally and behaviorally. I can handle two or three of those fits, but when it's more like seven or eight within two hours, yeah, I'm done. Especially when one is in the middle of church.
Actually one was in the parking lot outside church, because I wouldn't let him bring his noise-making Angry Bird toy inside, on the grounds that it might make noise. It got to the point where I walked kiddette back to the car and started strapping her back in, because I didn't think he would make it inside. After that was the tantrum inside church, when he darted off toward the snack table again, I darted after him and grabbed him away (the kids had literally just had their own snack) and he collapsed on the floor. In front of everyone. It's probably just my imagination that we instantly became the center of attention. Right? It is not my imagination, however, that one of the adults announced jokingly, "It's the RE eater!" Oh good, thanks for the nickname. Appreciate that.
Some of the other adults -- as in, the ones who have kids -- tried to help, telling kiddo he needed to listen to me and such. But I still ended up dragging him to the other side of the room to start getting the kids ready to go. At which point one of the other kids, clearly sent over by a parent, brought him an apple slice. Which was nice. Really. But also entirely defeating the purpose of my dragging him away from the snack table in the first place.
I'm feeling like maybe we need to reconsider this church thing.
That wasn't the end of the tantrums, of course, because he threw a few more during the post-church playdate, about sharing toys and cleaning up, at which point I hauled them both home and quit attempting the model-parent act, being thoroughly angry and growly, and made them both take naps. Kiddo was out like a light, proving that what I really should've done was skipped church entirely and sent them to bed for half the afternoon, but the other mom and I have been trying to schedule a playdate for a month-plus. I want kiddo to have a social life, but what if he keeps getting in his own way?
And why does kiddette keep having to suffer indirectly from her brother's wrath? I honestly don't know what to do about that.
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