I'm not sure what we are doing right, but this past month has actually gone very well and I sure hope the next two go even better!Well, onto the point of this post...if you have ever visited our home, you know that we don't have a lot of pictures on the walls or breakable items sitting around that the kids can grab. While this is quite common in households with babies and toddlers, I am pretty sure our house may always be this way. I was thinking about this when I was ordering pictures from the Autism walk online and I was thinking about getting some 5x7's for frames...and then I wondered where I could possibly put them so they wouldn't be thrown and broken. See, when Brycen has one of his meltdowns, he will grab anything possible, kick anything possible, break anything possible. Many of his toys have been ruined during these times, despite our diligence at trying to keep him and his items safe. We are even more diligent when we visit other people's homes because we don't expect them to "Brycen proof" before we come, therefore we cannot allow Brycen alone for a second in other houses for fear of what he can do.
When one of these meltdowns happen and something goes flying, a picture always enters my head of a past consumer I worked with back in Waterloo that would react to any and all changes in his home. I remember the staff preparing him for days before the housemates received new furniture or before a new picture was put on the wall. I remember one staff (Kenzie) being so aware of his needs that she tried so hard to make a game out of it and actually encouraged him to bounce on the couch to help him accept the change.
Brycen is so similar in this aspect. An example would be our shopping trip to Payless this last Saturday to get Daddy a pair of sandals. Aubree was fascinated by all the shoes and kept picking up one to show me, then sitting it on the floor when she found another shoe she liked. Brycen followed behind her and would pick up the shoe from the floor and ever so delicately put the shoe back where it went, and after a few times of doing this, I could see the frustration in his face when he would see Aubree sit another one down. Like a good big brother, he decided it was best to take matters into his own hands and grab both of Aubree's arms and pull her out of the aisle before she continued to destroy the orderliness of the store (this is what I imagine he was thinking since obviously he couldn't tell me).
I fear the upcoming moves could take a toll on him. While he responded well to the living room furniture being moved a couple months ago, I doubt he would respond the same way to his own bedroom furniture being moved. I know for a fact that I will not have him around when I am finishing the packing or when the movers are here, as I really feel it is better to protect him from this "stress" he would feel when something isn't right. I also know it is best if we get to the new place ahead of him and get his room unpacked before anything else so that he has his peaceful and orderly area again.
While most people probably aren't thinking about these things much, it crosses my mind most days lately knowing we have been in Storm Lake for over 3 years now and a move could be on the horizon at any time.
I thought it was hard the last time when it was just Brycen and I for those 4 weeks while Daddy lived here...what am I going to do when I am single parenting for another 4 weeks this time with both kids, a job that I travel for, therapy, etc with probably only a few days notice of Daddy's absence? I just keep reminding myself that the stress of all of this will be well worth it in the long run!
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