Yesterday Cuyler spent the better part of the afternoon with his fingers in his ears, crying for the wind to stop.
He closed all of the blinds and turned on all the lights. He did not want to see the trees blowing.
And that sucks on so many levels…
Last year he was afraid of rain and thunder. Pretty typical for 7 years old. But he’s not typical. I don’t mean he was scared and wanting to sleep with us. He was absolutely terrified, screaming and unable to function for hours at a time.
He would get worried if he saw some clouds.
And he would get upset if it was cloudy and overcast.
If you lived in the GTA last year – the barometric pressure was so high all summer and we had tons of thunderstorms. It was a nightmare. I couldn’t wait for winter. I was really hoping he would shift out of this over the winter.
But no…now it’s the wind. Another added sensory component to his puzzle.
Yesterday was a beautiful, clear, warm sunny day. And it was windy. And the only thing to calm him was for Sean to take him for a drive.
The first thing he does every morning is look out his window and say “It’s not going to rain.” as if to convince Mother Nature that it really shouldn’t rain. If it is raining he tells himself through his tears, very convincingly “It’s just a light rain!”
Another crappy thing about spring is that a staple in my spring wardrobe are capri pants. And he will not let me wear them. Ever. My 2 favourite pair of Lululemons are capri length (by “favourite” I mean they make my ass look great…but what Lulu’s don’t make an ass look great??).
And don’t even get him started on capri pants with strings or slits in them…
He will actually go into my closest, choose a pair of jeans, throw them at me and shout “Change them!”
Long pants are fine. Shorts are fine. Capris are definately a big NO-NO according to Cuyler. This year he has included shirts with 3/4 length sleeves onto the list of clothes I am not allowed to wear.
Oh and did I mention that this rule only applies to ME? Mmm hmm.
One improvement that he has made is that because the rule currently only applies to me, he no longer tries to pull down or unroll capri pants being worn by strangers in the grocery store.
The girl we work with in his remediation program thinks that the wind/quick change in barometric pressure has a negative effect on his muscle tone and vestibular system.
We think the clothes are a visual issue for him. Like he is only seeing half my leg or he feels as though my leg is incomplete by only being able to see a portion of it. Just by the way he side-gazes at me and almost looks frightened when he see’s me in them.
Again – all part of a big puzzle we’re trying to figure out. But the pieces keep changing.
We had a wonderful Easter. Kids loved the egg hunt and and all the loot they got. Cuy really shouldn’t have chocolate unless it’s gfcf, but I just had to buy him the Diego. He was happy to eat his gfcf jelly candies. And I was happy to take care of the Diego chocolate head for him. Yum.
Also – you may start to notice a commonality in my pics in that Cuyler is shirtless. He won’t wear socks or a shirt at home. All year round. It’s just his thang…
So cute, Christine! And your kids all look so different.
I can’t imagine having to deal with these unexpected and unpredictable reactions. How do your other two react and cope? It must be tough for them too.