Food, Glorious Food, keeps running through my head. The song from the musical Oliver seems to get sung a lot when I think of all that Owen goes through with eating. Some days I’m not strong enough to keep myself from crying. My high spirited child is pushing every button know available. I’m sitting stone faced on the couch. When I walk away to do something he screams, when I keep going he throws things, or hits the walls, and cabinets for attention. When I attempted to put laundry together he turned the light off, and pushed all the clothes on the floor. I took his tablet away, and made him sit on the couch, counting to one hundred. Maybe the counting was for me. The good news, he’s eating better. Food is always a constant struggle for Owen, but yet for all the challenges we face, he really eats pretty good. He has texture issues, and things like smells, temperatures, and the sight of some foods will either send him into a meltdown, or he will scream. I often wonder how my child will eat hummus, ham salad, and deviled eggs, but the sight of a banana caused him to cry for hours in my arms. One of the best pieces of advice I was given early on was to expose Owen to different brands of the same type of food - like chicken nuggets, never let him see the brand labels, and offer different options. Today is the progress paying off. Owen loves veggie straws, what he calls “crackers”. I found a triangular version of the veggie straws, giving them to Owen at the same time. Owen asked for some more crackers. I asked him if he wanted the straws, or the triangles. He said, “triANgu pwease”. Never give up. Life is not always easy, but that makes victories so much sweeter. Celebrate your victories, and celebrate ours. Make today matter. Smiles to all and donut daze!
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