A birthday, a meltdown and one tired mom

We celebrated my daughter Morgan's 11th birthday on Sunday with a big family and friend party...nothing fancy, no bowling, no swim party, nothing showy or over the top...just a nice, old fashioned house, food, cake & ice cream, family and friends...and guess what? Everyone actually had a great time! She got a lot of really nice things...so different than when she was 10. Gone are the days of when requesting toys. It's all about gift cards, clothes and accessories! She played with her friends and showed off all her little cousins/second cousins to them like a "proud of my family" type of kid that she is, and then when the party was over, had a sleep over. So the party just kept on going!


Monday, on the other hand was much, much different...
Kenny had his speech therapy and his occupational therapy at the hospital...like he does every Monday. Except this Monday he chose to show his meltdown side....for the whole commonplace area of the hospital to witness. It was following his speech therapy in which towards the end of, his therapist (whom is a replacement for the one he loved) nonchalantly mentioned to me that the Cleveland Hearing and Speech center would be much more helpful...well...resourceful and able to help Kenny with using some kind of language...be it voice or sign. Because of his unability to pick up on...errr...uhhh...understand things clearly. I told her that he did go there a few years ago, but because he missed many appts due to his immune system and lungs being so weak (and being in the hospital much of the time), that they pretty much told us bye-bye and discontinued their services for him. I WOULD go back there but it is located much farther away than where he goes now...and with a 12 passenger van, our gas budget is already at it's highest (insert disturbed and upset face here).

I was honestly at a loss for words because of what she was saying to me! What, didnt she want to take that extra little bit of time and work with him? Didn't she think she could help him? His other speech therapist that left never was unhopeful or looked/acted as if she didn't want to be there or teach him signs or show him how to form sounds into words! This one I see getting frustrated with how he won't talk back or do what she wants...I guess that twenty-odd minutes that she works with him (once a week) must be the toughest part of her week! Ugh!
So as we left that lovely therapy session, I was feeling a little sad at the fact that now is when the "pushing the special needs child on someone else" starts. I was wondering when it was going to happen...well, it just started.

Fifteen minutes between therapies...
I had just enough time to run to the main (common) area to get a cup of coffee and a bag of chips like we always do and that is when all he** broke lose. My beautiful miracle of a child decided to scream, fall to the ground, ripped the hearing aids out of his ears and throw them in different directions....as I'm juggling my purse, his coat that I was carrying and a very hot cup of coffee...I reached for the hearing aid closest to me and spilled my coffee all over myself and the ground. All the while, people are staring at the bad mom that can't control her spoiled, screaming child in the middle of the hospital. Who at this point is scrambling after the second hearing aid AND one shoe that said child has now decided to take off and throw. I just knew the other shoe was next...followed by the shirt if I didn't calm him down...and fast. Oh where was the duct tape when I needed it the most (to tape his shoes on around his feet and legs so he wouldn't/couldn't take them off....what did you think I was gonna us it for?!).
After about 10 minutes of utter horror, I finally got him calmed down which was a miracle in itself! I couldn't bribe him because he really didn't want anything...he just threw a fit because I got fritos rather than my usual, pretzel nuggets like I always get...and he just flipped. This is classic example if how bad his OCD is getting. And then off to OT we went...and he was fine...I on the other hand was ready for a straight vodka shot and a padded room!

OT went much better than speech and our coffee break...thank GOD! We actually made it out of there with some progress. She got him to try to eat small bites of the Fritos that I bought. She also tried to get him to drink from a cup, which was a huge fail. Yes, my son who is almost 5 still drinks from a bottle....and no...I'm not a lazy mom who hasn't tried to get him to drink from a cup (I've tried several kinds...and he just can't get it) so no judging please.
So there you have it. A tired mom after a busy weekend along with a very high maintenance, special child...doesn't get much better than this!