Nov 30 2008
Out of Sorts
It’s been a roller coaster of a weekend for us, and I’m even more convinced that there’s some level of SAD going on with Gus. His mood swings are disconcerting and I’d be lying if I said they weren’t a little annoying as well. He’ll be going along just fine and then out of the blue gets very contrary, defiant, and difficult. He’s even been giving me a hard time about meals, and he’s always been an incredibly good eater.
We spent a very nice day with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law, which included a mountain hike. I thought the outdoor time would do Gus good, and I think it did for a while, but he was also intent on giving me a heart attack. He made a run toward a sharp drop-off on our way out of the park. I guess it was a bad idea to have a talk with him about staying away from the cliffs - it seemed to make him curious about what would happen. He had no fear about them, but before bed he had a meltdown because we’d all been joking about bears being in the park. He fears the imaginary danger and the real danger is totally lost. It can be impossible to know what to try to prepare him for and what not to say.
It was also interesting how much he slept yesterday - in the car going to the park, most of the way home, and straight through the night. I fully expected a 3 am wakeup.
He had a pretty good day today, even though we had to stay in because it was a rainy, snowy mess outside. He didn’t get grumpy until dinner because I made turkey pot pie, which he usually loves.
Hopefully, the comfort of his school routine will help settle his nerves at least for a couple of weeks, until our routine is shattered again with the holidays.
On a side note, NanoWrimo officially ends tonight, and I finished with an official word count of just over 52,ooo words. So, now that I’m not obsessively cranking out a novel, hopefully my posts will get a little more interesting again! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend! Back to the grind tomorrow!
