Charlie had a better day at school and asked to go on a bike ride when he came home. On the bike ride, he asked for a burrito. He has been doing so a lot and we have been taking him to get a burrito a lot and, as Jim and I have been thinking, really too much. The fact that he has been asking on the bike ride has been a signal that it was time for a change.
We attempted this on Thursday, leading to Charlie asking, asking, asking for a burrito; seeming to calm; throwing something; banging the back of his head hard enough on the wall that we went to the ER.
'You guys have been here before,' the triage nurse observed as we checked in. Yes: 2010 saw us visiting the ER at least twice; we had also found ourselves there on December 26, 2009.
Fortunately, there were not a lot of people at the ER (unlike that day on December 26) and before we knew it a doctor came in, looked at Charlie's head, came back with soap to wash it, and then came back with an anesthetic to inject, and staples. Charlie handled all that and was, understandably, eager to go home.
He found a box of brownie mix and we made them and he went to bed.
We're trying to spot routines that freeze into obsessions and box Charlie in earlier. I think we did feel the burrito obsession was getting to that point and we did not want to have something happen in the car so it was best to be home. I'm not sure how to handle Charlie asking for the burrito Friday and I don't think we'll stop going entirely. Really, OCD and anxiety often seem some of the biggest challenges.
It was tough and he's a tough kid -- in both senses of the word.
What a trooper your guy is! I just hate that he feels such fierce anxiety and it has such repercussions. I know you guys do your best to set him up for the calmest of environments at home, but as we've found as well, when the anxiety spews, it spews. I hope he's okay after all that! Damn hormones! Damn OCD stuff! Damn it all! LOL
Posted by: Bonnie | 13 January 2012 at 06:39
Sending wishes for a calm weekend ...
Posted by: Judy T | 13 January 2012 at 09:58
Thanks so much.... it was kind of my fault. I was getting OCD trying to help him with his OCD -- he made it to school ok.
Posted by: autismvox | 13 January 2012 at 10:52
OCD is our biggest issue here, and it's a biggie. We don't have anxiety yet, but who knows what will happen when puberty hits?
Posted by: Melanie Harper | 13 January 2012 at 11:10
Hoping you're both on the mend . . . the OCD is such a challenge . . . in our kids and in ourselves!
Has it ever happened that Charlie had an obsession and then it just went away? Like he just got tired of the thing? I think our girl might have had that happen, but I can't remember off the top of my head. Her OCD got so much better with the SSRIs, but she still has some.
Sending you all hugs.
Posted by: Mothersvox | 14 January 2012 at 00:55
Thanks, everyone.... ah, puberty!
I'll have to think, Mvox, if any of his obsessions have just faded away. Usually we've had to give him some help/guidance. He gets tired of things but can't seem to just let go of them (as the burrito). He's been taking SSRIs; wondering if he might need dosage change?
Posted by: autismvox | 14 January 2012 at 00:58
Typepad does weird things with comments and Twitter logins. Sigh.
This is so hard to read and so hard for you and your family. ((hugs))
Posted by: Mamabegood | 15 January 2012 at 07:54