Tough Times Around These Parts

  In order to try and get Seth caught up in weight we have temporarily taken him off his ADHD meds. The supplements we are using had fantastic results at first, then those slowly went away and now we have just a slight improvement with them. I also added 500 mg of Niacin a day but that has not made a difference.

  Add to this that I am working long hours and now Levi is out of school and the result is one completely unregulated little boy. The upside is that he has gained over three pounds. Yeah! The downside is that he has ripped the curtains and curtain rod off the window in his bedroom. He intentionally rolled a heavy office chair over his brothers as they sat on the floor playing, hurting both of them. He has been saying cuss words almost daily even though he knows they are wrong. He has broken, ruined, or otherwise destroyed many, many toys.

  The worst though? The absolute most AWFUL part? He has pooped on everything in this house. Toys have poop on them, the bathroom has poop smears everywhere. There is poop on his sheets, his headboard, many pairs of underwear, diapers, doorknobs, doorjams, shirts, socks, walls......  I walk around with a tub of Clorox wipes at all times. I also make him wipe it up if he is awake.

  The other night he got sent to bed early. He got up three times to potty and finally after almost 2 hours I told him to stay in bed. A little later Chris went to check and smelled that un-mistakeable odor. He asked Seth and Seth claimed he just forgot to wash his hands. Chris followed him to the bathroom and saw that he had poop all over his hands, so he checked his pants. Yep, full and very played in. He had laid in bed, intentionally pooped in his pants and then PLAYED in it, getting it everywhere.

  I was LIVID. Part of me just wanted to tear up his butt but I know that would be counter productive. (Oooh though, I wanted to soooo badly. Just human i guess) Instead, we got him cleaned up and I let him know how angry i was and how disappointed in him we were. Then I told him if he was that angry about having to go to bed and didn't want to go to sleep, he could stay up with me while I watched my shows. This entailed him sitting on the couch next to me, but I wore headphones to listen and he had no sound. (These were MY shows, not kid shows) He was not allowed to go to sleep. We sat there for a couple of hours and every time he started to close his eyes I poked him or made him stand up and jump around. I kept reminding him that this was his idea and he had showed me exactly how much he wanted it with that lovely poop. By the time I finally allowed him to bed he was miserable and practically asleep on his feet.

  After every episode (and there have been a LOT lately) we talk it through, but it is very fake on his part. I can tell when he is just saying what I want to hear and when he really gets it. So far all fake.

God, please grant me the patience, wisdom and grace to get through the incredible pooping party of 2011......