Tuesday Happened

Owen woke in a mood. Everything had to be immediate. But yet he was in slow motion. He started in about school, wanting to go, but yet couldn’t seem to move when I got his clothes ready to help him get dressed. He wanted to go to the bus, but didn’t want to walk to the door. It was a cold morning, so I drove us to the bus stop. He hardly said any words in the car. I took him out of the car, he immediately covered his eye with one of his hands. He stood there almost in a trance. He walked up the steps of the bus, with my help, turning around staring at me. He loves watching the bus doors close, but it seemed like there was more to this. Some days are like that. His emotions seemed heavy today, mine are too. He’s happier tonight; smiling, laughing, and stimming. I love that he’s eating more food lately, and helping make the choices. Early on, one of the best suggestions that was made to me, was to rotate Owen’s foods, not let him see the labels on his food, and use different types of dinnerware. Textures, colors, smells, and so many other things influence Owen’s choices. He can easily get stuck on one food, or not like a new food, because of the way it looks. Even with something like chicken nuggets, the different brands will taste, and not look the same. I had been rotating through different brands of chicken nuggets, and I found a new one that I wanted to rotate in the mix. I put some on a plate, put it on Owen’s tablet, and started to walk away. I turned around for some reason, and saw Owen about to throw the plate across the room. I said, put that down, it’s chicken nuggets, you like chicken nuggets. You would think I learned my lesson about food, but it has taken many more experiences like that to really understand how hard it can be for Owen with food. Tonight he had fish, his choice, and he ate it all. Growing Owen is what we do. One step at a time, one day at a time, and sometimes one food at a time. Never give up. Keep finding ways to make yourself happy, and watch your world grow. Smiles to all and donut daze!