What mode are we in...?

I'm beginning to wonder if B is in post-vacation mode, pre-school mode, or something entirely different. He's had a difficult time today with intrusive thoughts & tics, so much so that it derailed a lot of our scheduled activities. We were going to take apart the old printer today, but he requested that we not do it, reason unspecified. We tried drawing using the new Pokemon manga-drawing book, but frustration set in almost immediately (although I did cheer him up a bit by drawing Rufus with "manga eyes" & accidentally adding eyebrows as long as his whiskers, which ended-up looking like a wispy Mohawk... :). The thoughts had him in tears at times, & only once was he able to articulate what was triggering them- "hands, feet, bodies, everything!" Seeing how much distress he was in I allowed him to move from tv, to computer games, to online computer games throughout the day. Dad had a church meeting right after work & would not be home for dinner, so we went out to lunch at our favourite Japanese restaurant as a treat. B handled this pretty well, although the tics became more obvious the longer we were out. We had fun making up new sentences in Japanese & declared the food "oishii" (delicious :). B almost got "stuck" in the thoughts a few times during the day, but I avoided meltdown by poking him & saying funny things in Japanese (like I did last night). Humour is our biggest ally these days. Before dinner we took a walk around the block, in the hope that the physical activity would help him to sleep tonight, & I also had him help me collapse a few old boxes on the back porch, which he did calmly, even though there was a tiny spider on one of the boxes. B had rice all 3 meals today :) He had miso soup & edamame with lunch, too, & milk with the other meals. There's something about rice that conforts & centres both of us. I posted the onigiri recipe on Jedi Workshop this afternoon & celebrated by having more onigiri for dinner.

C came home & managed to get B in his jammies, then they played a game. By 9:00 B was exhausted, but wanted me to read some more "Dragonsinger" to him as he fell asleep. He lasted about 5 minutes, but at least didn't have the trouble falling asleep he had last night. I think the thoughts just wore him out today...

Since B developed the Tourette's last summer he has seemed less likely to exhibit the perseverative behaviours that he's had since at least kindergarten (the tics seem to have taken their place). He was whacking himself on the head last Spring, for which we used ball-therapy successfully, but that's been about it... until now. I noticed over vacation that B had been carrying things around a lot, & chalked it up to being in an unfamiliar place & needing some consistency. But he's been doing it at home, too, & I'm thinking that it's going to be with us for a while. B has filled the tv room with legos, which he holds or manipulates while watching tv (it's a really tiny room, too, so walking through has become very hazardous...). He constantly has a lego guy or small toy in his hand & tried to put on his socks today with something in his hand, which was predictably frustrating, especially as B has never been much good at putting on his socks. He did inform me, amid the grumbling (I had already suggested he put the toy in his hand down), that the woolie socks that I knit him are the easiest to go on & he can't wait till it's the right season for them. I was gratified, but realised that I had better get knitting because his feet have grown over the summer. Hs feet are as big as mine now & I only have 4 pairs of socks of mine to give him that are suitably non-pink or girly. Not that he would notice, but I don't believe it would be good for him to be any more of a target than he already is to other kids... Anyway, I realised today that I had better make sure that school is prepared for B's newest perseverative behavour. They are very responsive & accepting, but it always helps to clue them in when I actually figure something out about what B is doing & the role it plays in his life. C & I, in concert with B's psychologist, had already decided that it would be good for B to try & leave Rufus home this year. He did if for camp this summer & got by just fine, plus Rufus always stays home when B rides his bike or goes sailing. He worries so much about Rufe & school is so distracting that I worry that something might happen to Rufus & B would never forgive himself. Also, he'll be with 5th-8th graders this year (all on the same floor of his small school) who might give him trouble about hauling a stuffed animal around with him. This new behaviour of holding things might allow B to substitute something smaller & less precious to hold on to at school, too. We'll see...

Tomorrow we'll go food shopping in the morning (fingers crossed) & then C hopes that he & B will be able to sail in the afternoon. The weather should be nice & they'd like to get in a practise run in before the race on Labour Day, around the bay, that they plan to do for the first time. Hopefully humour & distraction will help B get through the day & have some fun.