I'm Alive, But Not Kicking (Being Kicked . . . )

You've probably been wondering if I just fell off the face of the earth - no HNT two weeks in a row! I've just been hella busy. There's the cleaning (decluttering, packing, and actual cleaning) and home improvement projects, landscape improvements, and kid-wrangling. I'm tired. Very, very tired.

This is most mornings at my house:


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Wednesday it got worse after that. Actually he went to the bus okay, but once on the bus, Boy had a total freaking meltdown. Kicking, hitting, twisting himself into a pretzel, trying to bite (which is kind of amusing, since he lost his two front teeth). He kicked me in the sternum, knocking the breath right out of me. When I left him on the bus, he was screaming, but his harness was clipped in and it seemed like he would calm down once he left our street. That's his usual M.O. when he has a fit.

Not this time. He banged his head on the bus window frame all the way to school, unclipped his harness (four clips and a seat belt), and was just agitated and upset all the way to school. Once at school, he got off the bus and banged his head on the sidewalk. After he sat for 30 minutes in the bean bag chair in the classroom with a cold pack on his head, he had a great day of school. Cooperative, compliant, and happy. Go figure. But now he has a nasty set of bruises and scrapes on his forehead. Lines from the window frame on the bus, scrapes from the cement sidewalk. I was going to get his hair cut yesterday, but decided against it until the injuries are less visible. At least his longish hair covers them right now.

Then Thursday he went on the bus just as easy as could be, helped clip his harness to the seat, and was a happy camper. I'm not sure what will happen today. So far he ate his breakfast like a champ (after throwing up all over MY bed last night, he must have been hungry!), but doesn't want to wear underwear or pants. That's part of the joys of having a totally unpredictable autistic child.

Postscript: I got him to wear pants, but he didn't want to get on the bus. He said "Ride car today, please." I'm such a sucker, I relented. But then he didn't want to get in the car, took off his seatbelt and climbed into the wayback of the minivan, and cried at school to try to get me to take him home. No dice. I left him there, crying his eyes out. I feel so awful when I do that, but they tell me he calms down as soon as I'm gone 95% of the time.