Thursday, April 4, 2013

I'd forgotten about the elephant...

in the room.

My son has anxiety, anger, and sensory issues. He has improved by leaps and bounds these last few months, even with the arrival of a baby sister, so I had almost convinced myself that things were "normal" in our household. I thought that maybe he'd grown out of those issues. Maybe I wouldn't have so much explaining to do to my side of the family who hasn't seen us in 7 years. But upon learning that we're moving to the U.S., Raccoon seems to be unravelling. It is a huge change, and he can grasp just enough of the ramifications to be excited and terrified. He needs my attention all.the.time. He's acting as if we're going to leave him behind if he lets his guard down.

How it all plays out: interrupted sleep, less eating, refusing hygiene tasks, whiny, meltdowns, anger, hitting, noncompliance, freaking out... and that's just by 9 am. Needless to say, our days have become loooooooooong and frustrating.

If I tell him to do something (like put his shoes where they belong) then he says,"You're being mean to me." After a particularly rough evening, he sat on my lap crying and saying that I didn't love him. What!? Where did that come from? I ALWAYS tell him that I love him no matter what, when he's good, when he's bad, when he's happy, when he's mad, etc. We apparently have a love language problem here, but I also try to hug him, spend time with him, and do things for him, as much as I can with a new baby. But at night he cries for me in his sleep, so obviously it's not enough.

Our family has officially moved to Crazytown. Only 26 more days to go. Because of course actually arriving in the States is going to cure everything...

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