Amongst all the chaos with Smokey, life still soldiers on and with that comes the appointment that Sean has dreaded since January. Yesterday, he got his bottom braces put on.
Ouch.
For this texture sensitive kid, however, the initial hours weren’t so bad. He played with them a bit. He moved and smacked his lips a lot. But they didn’t hurt him… yet.
Last night he asked for some pain meds. Fine.
This morning I woke to tears and screaming as he tried to eat a chewy granola bar.
Uh oh.
All I could think of was, “Please don’t rip them off. Please don’t rip them off” as I envisioned my $5000 investment (after insurance!) scattered around the bathroom sink.
I tried to calm him down. And then tried to calm down Carissa as she came stomping down the hall and yelling that her brother was being too loud.
Seriously? Can I just ignore all this and go back to bed?
I hugged Sean tight as I attempted to explain that the pain would eventually subside but for now ice cream and soft stuff was the way to go.
It was a tough sell. Sean loves hard, crunchy food. He lives for it. He never liked mushy food as a baby and he still doesn’t.
The ensuing two years are going to be difficult.
But let’s concentrate on getting through this next meal, this next moment.
Ice cream, anyone?
I even offered to put it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it up.
Yep, I’ve officially reached “crazy mom” status…
Whether it’s cut on the knee, a bad grade or new braces, a simple bowl of chocolate ice cream goes a long way to ease the tears and soothe the soul.
Sean stopped crying and ate his “breakfast” of ice cream and pain meds. After awhile, he even went back to playing computer.
I internally cheered as the crisis abated.
And then he asked for a snack.
You could almost hear the bell go off from the side of a boxing ring. Round 2. But I was prepared. I had shopped according to my own four and a half year experience with braces.
Pudding and jello were out. Mac and cheese were in and his mushy food of choice this time around.
The SpongeBob-shaped noodles (and only SpongeBob-shaped noodles!) were dumped into the water and the minutes ticked by as my pantry-pilfering teenage son now withered away from starvation.
Finally, it was ready.
But the bowl that he always gets it served in was sitting dirty in the sink.
I could be a good mom and wash it and keep life going as normally as possible. It would certainly make my life easier. But, it’s been a tough day or so. I’m tired. Dishes can wait.
I decide to throw Sean a soft curve and serve the orange mash on a plate.
Wow… yea, I know… I am one crazy kid!
Sean objected once and then dove right in. I guess if you’re hungry enough, you’ll eat off of just about anything… even a good dinner plate!
He’s outside right now. No doubt, working up an appetite.
Sean’s going to come in hungry and I have no idea what I’ll serve up next. Braces are one thing, but autism and its accompanying sensitivities are another.
I do have two years to figure it though….
For now, maybe I’ll go back to bed and think about it.
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