Slimy Smells

What you are about to read may gross you out.  That is the only warning you are going to get!

My little boy eats worms the same way he eats spaghetti noodles.  He picks up and smells cicadas and poop.  Sometimes if I don't stop him, he licks them.  Laundry soap, dish washer soap, shampoo all go in the mouth.  Frequently a hand shake is followed by the hand sniff and if your hand had an odor that got on him he makes comments about the smells (in his loud voice).  Some moms freak out if their child touches the shopping cart, mine licks it.  My point is for years now he has licked and smelled most everything.

Needless to say I keep a pretty safe house.  I know that after I mop the floor he will lick it so I no longer use harsh chemicals that will hurt him.  I no longer react when he eats or licks bugs because a reaction will only get that item swallowed faster.  It is not as if I don't care... I certainly do not like this "strange" behavior.  At age 4 he has not been sick (from anything) so we just keep going!  It is not to say that we freak out sometimes!  We have had an incident of grand proportion just last weekend.  At a hotel he found a blue pill on the floor that we didn't see.  He pocketed it until we were not looking and then put it in his mouth.  The first bite must have been foul tasting and he spit it out.  Thankfully the internet provided us with the answer to WHAT WAS IT?!  And a call to poison control was avoided. 

He has also always loved to be a mess!  I change more clothes and clean up more messes then I care to mention!  We do not finger paint in the winter because it requires a hose to clean.  We do not worry about mud or sandy shorts anymore.  All of his clothes are play clothes!  I tend to look for hand me downs and we don't worry about saving them. 

Yesterday he convinced me to let him get a pumpkin from Menard's.  He even helped me by putting it in the shopping cart.  When we got home, he carried it up the stairs.  And then he convinced me that we should carve it.  Why not!  It was inexpensive and it would be an activity to keep him still for a few minutes!

Imagine my surprise when he was turned off by the smell and slimy feel of the inside of the pumpkin.  This was a new reaction!  He has of course carved pumpkins and cleaned out insides before.  But this particular occasion, he was oddly grossed out.  Yet he kept coming back and helping.  We have a saying here in our house "try and try and keep trying ~ don't get mad if you try your best".  He kept trying. 

Yesterday he needed a towel to keep his hands from being slimy.  He didn't like the way the pumpkin felt on him.  He didn't put the pumpkin in his mouth because he told me it smelled horrible.  The seeds he managed to scoop up into a bowl and took to his garden and planted them all in one hole (I can only hope the winter kills them all or I will have a giant pumpkin patch).  I was amused at his strong reaction to a pumpkin. 

He eventually finished carving it (I helped) and he was super proud of it.  We had to put a candle in it and put it outside.  Then he needed to keep checking on it.  Because as gross as it smelled he was obsessed with it.  Finally at dark we moved it from the front porch to the deck so he could see it out the window.  He checked on it until he had to go to bed.  And to my grouchy surprise, he felt inclined to wake up at 3:30am to check on it.  Then at 7am he discovered the candle was burned out and he had a meltdown. 

The pumpkin is now sitting on the kitchen counter with a candle in it.  He will be home straight after school and will check on it. 

I have a beautifully strange son.  I can be both surprised and delighted at this pumpkin.  He both hates it and loves it.  It is so hard to keep up with his unique sensory issues!  Daddy expressed it perfectly as he was going to work and Espen was obsessing about the pumpkin "we have an entire month before Halloween... what a ride we are in for this year!"....

Honor to Write

I started a blog when my son was born. The blog was nothing about him or even being a parent at first.  It was a "joke" about my clumsy ability to break things.  I am a gadget geek.  We are generally broke (like most people).  And thus my first blog was about mommy breaking gadgets or being broke... www.mommybrokeit.blogspot.com.  I decided right away that I would be honest ~ often brutally.  And I shared the strange and wild tales of breaking gadgets, crazy weird things my little son did and adventures.  Sometimes I sat down to write with sobs in my words because the things that happened were so isolating and I didn't know how to go one more minute. 

Last year when we discovered Espen had a sensory processing issue I decided to separate those tales out because sometimes I write about being broken and it has nothing to do with sensory things.  I started a sensational blog for tall tales about my little boy and the beautiful wild things that happen to us.  In this I also am painfully honest.  Sometimes I write things no one wants to even think to themselves.  I do it for me but because sometimes it is my prayer that I am not alone in this sensational mess we often find ourselves in. 

Then because I have a hard time finding "parent" support I started a facebook page.  I post random and silly things mostly to myself but there are some joining me.  Not necessarily sensory parents but moms (and dads) who just need some support and resource occasionally.  We can find strength in each other. 

Imagine my surprise and delight when a mom at therapy asked me if I was "Espen's Mom".  Indeed.  She went on to tell me that she happened upon my blog and my words resonated in her and she shared them with her friends and family.  Tears in my eyes.  I was surprised and humbled all at the same time.  I write and sometimes know my friends and family read stuff but I am never sure I reach anyone else.  I was honored.  Thank you fellow mom for sharing my struggles in this journey with these amazing kids!  I understand and recognize the joy and struggle our special children bring us! 

If you want to know more about me, my son, the disorder, our journey... follow along in our life!!  We welcome the support and knowledge you can share!

Being Lucky

Sometimes being in the right spot at the right time is just luck.  Last week I took Espen to the zoo.  As anyone with a sensitive child knows, the zoo can be either really great or really horrible.  The Omaha Zoo is generally not super busy, is easy to navigate and has lots of space for quiet meltdowns if it happens!  It also has lots of great areas that are fantastic "sensory" areas for little people!  We started our time at the zoo climbing all over a giant sculpture, splashing in a fountain and then seeing the butterflies.  We rode the sky tram across the park (viewing the rhinos, cheetah and a monkey) and played at the playground.  We crossed the bridge at the koi pond and fed the fish, rang the giant gong and walked in the "smelly park".  We walked and talked and lay in the sun.  We waved at the train and chatted with fellow patrons.  On our way out, we happened upon a table of master gardeners and butterfly experts. 

And this is when I nearly had a heart problem.  While I was politely listening to the gardener, I was watching Espen who was thrilled to see some butterflies in the net.  They were tagging the monarch butterfly.  Suddenly the expert handed one to the little girl standing next to Espen and I moved into the picture!  My stomach did some flips.  He had just been told he would be next.  My son is far from gentle on most days.  He likes to smell and taste most things (even bugs).  He is a crasher and a crusher.  So imagine my fright at what was about to happen. 

He did fantastic.  He followed the instructions and did great.  I made a video! 

As we were leaving the zoo I asked what was his favorite part.... the playground.  OF course! 

Thank you Omaha zoo for letting children have this experience!