InuYasha hat...
I mentioned in my last entry that I'd had an inspiration while watching B run like InuYasha, to make an InuYasha hat. Yesterday I managed to get to the fabric store & the polar fleece I needed was even on sale :) There wasn't time to actually make the hat yesterday, though. B had a good day at school (hooray!) & Grammie was feeling well enough to come over for dinner last night (another hooray!) so I made some soup & tidied-up the house instead of sewing. It had been 2 weeks since Grammie last joined us for Friday-night dinner & we were looking forward to seeing her. It was also interesting to see the changes in B in these last 2 weeks, since we've reduced his doses of zoloft & seroquel, through her eyes. She definitely noticed changes, was a bit more careful around him, & B also had a bit of trouble with her presence in the house. He became quite ticcy & when I asked what was triggering him he said "lots of things" in a way that suggested that he didn't want to get too specific & hurt her feelings. He went upstairs after a little while & when I heard loud tics I followed him. C came home while I was up with B, & though it took a great deal of coaxing, I managed to get him back downstairs for dinner. I'd made leek & potato soup with tvp (textured vegetable protein) in it, since B's been fascinated by this protein substitute lately, so that was one enticement... With a bit of joking-around (the best distraction these days for disturbing thoughts) he regained his good humour & we had a very nice dinner together. He did his InuYasha face for Grammie (you can see a bit of it in the picture below) & some spectacular "Osowari!" -s as well. When B looked as though he was wearing thin again we let him get back to his Adventure Quest game & had a nice time chatting with my mom,catching up on things. B let her hug & kiss him goodbye, so I think he's back to Grammie-normal for now.
After B was in bed & asleep C & I discussed that the changes we've seen in B's behaviour & realised that the thoughts/tics don't occur quite so often, but when they do they are a lot more intense. He worries alot about Rufus or his plushies getting hurt or murdered, he has a lot more of the "touching" thoughts (where he has to touch things in a certain sequence or symmetrically) which send him into eruptions of frustration when they don't go right... & he's back into thinking that the left side of his body is bad & occasionally talks about wanting to amputate his left arm (lovely...). I can usually turn this one around by telling him he needs to have a Skitty amputation instead, which is not nearly so gross an image (I can see it on his face) & sometimes even makes him laugh. 10-year-old boys... I feel as though C & I are holding our breaths a bit, waiting to see how much more intense these thoughts & rituals get. Having them occur less frequently is definitely helping him at school, but if they get much more intense I'm not sure how we'll help him manage them...
This morning I decided to get up earlier than my usual Saturday (sleep-in day!!) so I could sew. B slept in until 7:50- most unusual for him- so I got up when I heard him get up. C was at work doing paperwork (his usual Saturday morning routine) & was surprised to find us both up when he got home. We had breakfast together & then I went up to make the hat... I printed a couple of InuYasha images from the internet so I'd get his hair right-ish :) I cut it all freehand & then figured-out to attach it all to the inside of the watch-cap brim (using a fleece watch cap pattern I already had). The ears took a couple of tries to get right, to get them to curl in properly). And here it is:
B loves it :) He's sitting in his favourite InuYasha pose with his "annoyed InuYasha" look on his face... C loves the ears, particularly. We can't wait to show Tomoko at our japanese lesson this afternoon.
Here's the back view of the hat. (gotta get all that long "hair" in there...)
And here's a picture of InuYasha if you haven't met him yet :)
posted by The Jedi Family of Blogs @ 11:10 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I *love* the InuYasha hat! (Though I'm more of a Shippo fan, myself ;-)).
I can relate a little tiny bit to B's thinking the left side of his body is "bad." I don't have OCD, but I do have a left neglect and tend to forget that I and the world around me have a left side. (I have to be very careful when crossing the street). And although I usually associate "left" with blankness rather than badness, I don't really feel like my left side belongs to me. And I know that some people with left neglect feel this way so strongly that they think of their limbs as someone else's: their mother's, some hacked-off cadaver limbs that somebody put in bed with them, etc.
Here's some random Japanese-language trivia: I'm playing a video game called Okami, about a white wolf who's also a sun god who uses calligraphy to do things (fight monsters, make plants bloom, fill lakes with water, etc). Anyway, I read that "Okami" means "wolf," but the kanji characters used in the title can also be pronounced as "great diety."
Along the lines of what Tera said...it seems like B's "thoughts" associated with the left side of his body could be due to sensory-integration issues and body-awareness interruptions. It's probably something to do with his brain having difficulty "mapping" where all his body parts are in space. I've never had an aversion to individual body parts the way you're describing in B, but I have had times wherein I've felt like my whole body is this alien thing, and then I want to go crash into beds or walls or couches in order to orient myself in space.
And yes, the hat is very neat! I haven't seen InuYasha myself but will look into it, being quite enamored with quite a bit of anime already. I think it's so cool that you can share this sort of thing with your kid...I remember one thing that I liked growing up was watching Star Trek with my dad.
Be careful, those hats may become the next thing to have! I'm interested to follow how B does on the different dosages of meds.
Thanks for the kind comments :)
I appreciate the perceptions on B's left-side distress, zilari & tera. B definitely has proprioceptive difficulties, but it never occurred to me that this could be part of the left thing... I'm certainly going to bring it up with his OT & anyone else that seems appropriate, plus take it into account when helping him deal with his feelings about his left side.
tera- we just learned the word for wolf in japanese, through InuYasha, of course. I was struck by the double-meaning, too. I think that wolves must be greatly respected in Japan... I just purchased a shirt for B for the holidays at JList that says "Lone Wolf" in kanji. Our teacher explained that the term "lone wolf" has the same connotation as in english, as someone who does things their own way, & I think it's perfect for B.
zilari- I love being able to share things like InuYahsa with B & discuss them with him. I also love how he incorporates these ideas into his play. He's been naming swords (lego lighsabres, actually) for his characters using japanese names, with the assistance of our teacher.
Kristina- I will definitely keep up with the observations meds-wise. Trying to figure out what works "best" for B is a real challenge, as "best" can be such an elusive thing...
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