Thursday, July 12, 2012

Jigsaw Summer



It's been bumblebee hot out lately, you guys.



Staying hydrated, slugging through humidity, and the broken-faucet-like drip drip dripping down your back whenever you want to leave your house is not always easy. 

But I do love seasons and navigating my way through them is a challenge I have nightmares about look forward to now that I have two little hostages and a co-pilot. 

For me, summer is like a big earth shaped puzzle with clothing, food, activities, kids, and Sadie as the pieces.

How can I fit them all together so they are harmonious and make a pretty picture?  Sometimes I figure it out.  Other times, I walk away from the pieces, grab my keys and drive us all to McDonald's for ice cream.  If my children don't have an eating disorder by the time they reach 1st grade, it will be a McMiracle.



One of the most difficult pieces to figure out this past month has been Abby's clothing. 

She wears two shirts.  An orange one that was Grayson's and a Tinkerbell one from the thrift store.  All others have been banished to Grayson's closet, buried under sleeping bags and rainboots.  Abby's hypersensitivities have peaked and she is now allergic to seams, tags, and material that feels like material touching her body.  If there was clothing that held a blanket of air between itself and her skin we would be in good shape! 

Abby literally shrieks in pain when I try to put something that isn't 100% cotton over her head.  She declares herself wounded and yowls out in frustration if there is one bulky seam.  She also smells things nobody else can smell in the house.  One time she wouldn't come downstairs because something smelled "like garbage wrapped in poopie" down there while I was cooking.  She's awesome for my ego.

This day was particularly tough because even the Tinkerbell shirt had a certain Je ne sais wtf that bothered her so much she refused to leave the house. 

We begged, promised rainbows, and offered princess parties which finally got her okay with joining us in the outside non nudist colony world. 

She was in the buff 1.5 hours later in our car on the way back home. 

Poor baby. 

This summer jigsaw puzzle is gonna be tricky.

Here was our day in pictures.  She has the other acceptable outfit on right now so I have to run.  The NudieBuddah clock is ticking and we need toilet paper and eggs!

 There it is!  There is one of the shirts Abby will allow to touch her porcelain skin!


 
 Sadie's lucky.  No Tinkerbell shirt here.

 This one was exactly the same way about two years ago. 
 He still makes me cut off shirt and pant tags if they dare wave their itchy little flags in front of him.



 Oh, Tink loves to color so.


 This was Sudoku for Grayson.


 "Some of the acorns they grab get dropped and can help plant new trees." 
I loved this for a friend.


She was asking if she could swim.






 I didn't say yes.  
But I didn't say no.








3 comments:

Monica said...

Abby sounds like me and it's called sensory integration disorder and worth checking out with an occupational therapist (David is starting to become this way and it appears I will be doing the same thing with him). That puzzle looks wonderful, where did you get it?

OSMA said...

Monica, I actually just bookmarked that on WebMD bc it sounded like Abby! And Grayson. And me. Will the OT give us a three fer deal? Would love to chat with you more about this soon. And the puzzle was wonderful but not ours. It belonged to the nature center we were visiting. I wish I would've checked for the name because it held him rapt or minutes. Minutes, I tell you! :)

JRitz said...

Looks like a successful day and as always the pictures are beautiful. And I can so relate to Abby. Have to wash everything before I wear it and it goes without saying the tags come off of everything:) Also, rumor has it, that in Kindergarten, I wore the same dress every day for the whole year:) I did thankfully, grow out of that habit:)