Mama Pot

If you've been reading here for a bit you already know my kids are sensitive.

Grayson is like a barometer for the cosmos.  No kidding.  Child is c-o-n-n-e-c-t-e-d.

Abby is like a baby lobster:  tough but loyal, strong but vulnerable to her surroundings.  Two nights ago I found her curved over an arm of the couch with tears glistening down her cheek. "Mommy, this song is so sad, turn it off."  Next to Me, an upbeat song we had been listening to on YouTube ended and the next one, a slow and ploddy one took its place.

 

"Were the words sad, Honey?"

"No Mommy. I did not hear the words, just the song."

And when Grayson's OT asked me if he was showing any unusual compulsive behaviors, I said no.  Then she mentioned counting.  Oh yes, the counting.  "He likes to count?" his OT asked.

"Yes ma'am," I dutifully replied.  "Did you know it takes you 2,805 seconds to get to your office from the main street?"

She kindly reminded me it's sometimes hard for parents to zoom out; to determine usual from unusual once they've gotten accustom to certain behaviors.

Here, I thought Grayson was just honing his time telling skillz.  In reality, by counting how many seconds it took for us to drive from the main road to her (never before seen by his eyes) office, he was vying for control in a world that felt unfamiliar, unknown, and scary.

So freaking interesting to me.  This whole sensory thing.  All my life I've lived inside out.  An exposed skeleton, nerves on the outside, a carnival of lights, sounds, and energy happening at all times on the outside.  Sorting it out takes a while.  It has taken all kinds of Starbucks to function without naps.  The day seems to fill up my brain with so much information that by 3pm, I speak in a whisper just so I don't add to the Neuron Pile-On between my ears.  Does anyone else do that?  Sleep is the only thing that puts me back together again.  No idea why I stay up watching crap until midnight some nights.  Do you want my TV? 

So, while my babies are pushing their way through this chaotic spread of experiences before them, I am by their side, learning right along with them:

Therapeutic Listening:  Check.

Identifying sensory issues:  Check.  (I have all 27 on this list.  How many do you identify with?)

Auditory Discrimination:  Working on it.  I have these pieces of Kleenex shoved in my ears starting around 2pm.  I don't take them out until 8pm.  I'm sure that's totally normal. 

Hello little kettles, your mama pot is whistling.