Living with Sheldon.

On Saturday I think we had a leisurely morning and then headed off to come home as we were due visitors in the evening.

On the way we stopped at a little chef for lunch. While eating, I had a bit of a brainwave about recent events with Small, and realised that his difficulties in the bathroom are not a regression at all, they are actually a sign that he’s making progress in other areas. No, this isn’t the wishful thinking of a parent in denial, it’s come out of many observations of the boy, and discussions with Tim about what we are seeing happen around us every day. So what happens in the bathroom is that there is now so much going on in his mind that he can’t retain focus on what he needs to be doing, and requires prompting to remember how to finish off the process.

It must be very busy in his head. He comes out with the oddest questions that just highlight a very different way of approaching the world. Most of the time it’s not too much of a problem but the practical aspects of life, simple stuff like eating food and so on, can become a real hurdle to get past.

We were also watching him eating. He really just can’t handle a knife and fork – we’ve been assuming that he’ll get it eventually, but I’m not actually convinced he learns that way any more. Just because something is a bit awkward doesn’t mean that he notices and wants to improve it, so he’s quite happy to go on firing food around the room and failing to cut things in anything like an efficient manner.

We’re working on it.

Along with a number of other things.

I’ve considered carefully what to blog about this type of topic, I don’t ever want to invade Small’s privacy or diminish his individuality. But I’ve been cutting myself off from other ppl’s feedback and suggestions except in person, and given that I hardly ever see other ppl now, that’s a bit of a drawback. Plus it occurs to me that blogging some of this may help other ppl who are going through similar issues with their children too. So there will be appearances of this type of post, discussing difficulties we have had and ways that we approach it, cropping up here and there in the standard run of posts.

I have considered retagging the blog “living with Sheldon” but I’m a little afraid that a lot of ppl won’t get the joke, or will think I’m cruelly poking fun at my own offspring. I’m not. I love Small, quirks and all, but life with him is never boring and often rather challenging, and humour helps to smooth our days and our dealings with it. Still wondering about that one.