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Wordless Wednesday (late but worth it)
Out to lunch! That smile warms my heart!
LeBella had a great day today! The best day she’s had in months actually. We got all her lessons done early so I took her out to lunch and we went to the dollar theater. We watched the first 1/2 of Harry Potter and that was enough for her! 
Like this:
Bipolar Tuesday: Ring Around My Sanity
Ring around the rosie
A pocketful of posies
Ashes, Ashes
We all fall down!
Doesn’t that song just put visions of cherubic little angles with freckles and pig tails in your head.
Whatever.
Here’s our version:
Ring around my mommy
Because I think it’s funny
Dashes, dashes
We all run away!
I’m telling you, since LeBella learned to walk she has been running circles around everyone and everything!
In daycare and at school she would/will run around desks, tables, other students.
At home it’s the car, the love seat and the dining room table.
I know what you’re thinking, “Um, hello, Mommylebron, just don’t chase her.”
Not an option.
When she’s in “Elopement Mode” she has an objective.
Her objective is: Away.
Away=Outside. Roads. Traffics. The ability to blend into the neighbor’s shrubs with or without the aid of camouflage.
If she manages to get Away (and she has) chasing is no longer an option. That just leads to Further Away.
(Did I mention I am not a runner??)
She rarely has a reason. She just gets all impulsive and twitchy, then it’s on. Usually there are tell tale signs. This is a good thing because otherwise we skip the game of Ring Around Mommy and go straight to the objective.
I usually have to dig deep at this point. I can’t show that I’m agitated because she feeds into that. So I go for positive redirection.
“Hey, baby girl, wanna go blow bubbles.”\
Negative.
“Chacha moo moo, wanna draw a picture?”
Negative. Sigh.
“Lala? Want to eat mommy’s Dove ice cream with the super yummy ganache on top?”
Bingo.
And all is right with the LeWorld again.
Except I have no ice cream now.
**In the event that your child runs away and you are not confident in your ability to keep them safe you should immediately call 911. Inform the operator that your child suffers from mental illness and is not acting rationally. If this is a habitual event with your child you may want to find out if your local police department has a specially trained Crisis Officer and make them familiar with your families situation.
Related Articles
- Bipolar at Age 2? (everydayhealth.com)
- Keeping Track of Bipolar Medical Records (everydayhealth.com)
A Second Serving Repost from @littlebitquirk
When I first started blogging I was a little nervous about how I would come across. Would my sarcasm and humor make me sound insensitive and possibly trivialize my daughter’s illness? It’s voices like Cheryl’s that shows me it’s ok. Because, people? If I couldn’t laugh here I would be all kinds a crazy!
W Is for Whack-A-Mole!
This is my 100th post! Wow! I’m also nearing 100 followers! This is so exciting to me. Yes, I excite very easily!
I’m participating again in Jenny Matlock’s Alphabe-Thursday. The gist of this meme is that Jenny features a different letter of the alphabet each week, and people who are involved write their post around that letter and link back to her post. Then, everyone who is participating reads as many blogs as possible, the idea being to increase your readership. The letter this week is W! I knew my “W” topic since last week: Whack-A-Mole!
One thing I learned about autism is that treating it is like a big whack-a-mole game. You focus therapies on eliminating some behaviors. For example, one of the first behaviors we tackled with our daughter was her rigidity. If things didn’t go her way, she would meltdown faster than Chernobyl. She dropped her grape on the ground? Huge tantrum! Time to leave preschool? Huge tantrum! I’d make a left turn driving when she wanted me to turn right? Huge tantrum! The behavior therapy to increase her flexibility started off pretty successfully. She learned how to say, “Oh, well!” if something didn’t go the way she wanted. But then something weird happened: a new behavior cropped up!
My daughter started to get really ritualistic. If we didn’t go through our routines in the exact way each day, then she would have meltdowns. Our behaviorist told us that this is totally normal. Oftentimes, when treating autistic children, eliminating one behavior just creates a new one to crop up. For some kids with autism, there’s always going to be some behavior, you just try to find the behavior that you can live with the most.
Of course, even after a behavior is “eliminated,” it’s still bound to come popping up again at a different time!
Ironically, my daughter did really well playing a Whack-a-Mole game the last time she was at Chuck E. Cheese. Coincidence? I think not!
Bipolar Tuesday: A Second Look
I am running around like a turkey with it’s head cut off right now getting ready for our small Thanksgiving and fetting ready for the new year. Yes, I’m starting early. I need to see some big changes. So, with that in mind I’m deciding my new years resolutions now and working on plans to make them a reality. On that note, I would like to share with ya’ll some of my past Bipolar Tuesday Posts you might have missed. If my itty bit of knowledge and expierence helps just one Mom on this roller coaster ride, I’ll be happy.
Talking about Triggers/Soothers:
Walking on Eggshells in a Land Mine of Love
Bipolar Tuesday: More Soothing Techniques
Hi, everyone! I’m getting Bipolar Tuesday up on a Tuesday! Woo hoo!
We’ve been having a rough time the last couple weeks because the pdoc failed to adjust LeBella’s meds in a timely fashion. (Just one of many reasons we will be moving to a new pdoc at the beginning of the new year.) So needless to say I have had to dip into my bag of tricks in an effort to keep my sanity the peace.
1. Stop saying ‘no’. As much as possible, always offer choices. Some say that doesn’t teach them proper life skills. I say, no matter how hard things seem in life, you always have a choice.
2. Anticipate needs. By setting and sticking to routines, needs are met consistently. This helps avoid tantrums triggered by hunger, over tiredness, unexpected transition, etc.
3. Recognize the energy. This is important. With LeBella we can start out hyper/giddy, agitated, bored, sulky and if not handled correctly, we will find ourselves trapped in hell in the midsts of another meltdown.
So what do we do then???
1. Blowing bubbles: Blowing bubbles causes a person to slow down and take deeper, more regular breaths. This simple exercise can bring the heart rate as well as the blood pressure down. Blowing bubbles also causes a person to focus and concentrate. So it not only has a calming effect, but it can also help children, and adults, with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).
Related Articles
- Brain Scans May Help Identify Bipolar, ADHD Kids (nlm.nih.gov)
