I think we may have a problem here...
Brock has always been very "particular" about pretty much everything. I've mentioned before that he is pretty tidy. His room is always clean. His toys and clothes are always put away. He always uses a place mat. He always puts his dishes in the sink. He always puts his dirty clothes in the hamper. Never leaves the lights on. He was easily potty trained in one day. Cute, right?
But you should also know...
Never hand him a sippy cup with any water on the outside. He hates that and will refuse to touch it.
He once cried for two hours after preschool because we couldn't wash the finger paints off his hands.
He refuses to touch crayons.
If any water drips on his clothes, he cries like he is dying.
At first I thought it was cute, sometimes annoying, but mostly cute that he is a little eccentric.
Now...
He is obsessed with brushing his teeth. He always tells me they feel old and dirty. He even wakes up in the middle of the night and tells me we need to brush his teeth.
About a week ago he woke up in the middle of the night SCREAMING because he had "wet" his pants. He actually hadn't wet his pants at all, but was actually just a tiny bit sweaty. However, I had to change his jammies, change his sheets and give him a bath before he would settle down. He also wanted to watch me put everything in the washing machine.
He wanted to eat some chips the other day, so I gave him some at the table. A couple minutes later I got concerned about the crumbs he might be making, so I went to check on him. Turns out he had already gotten a plate out of the cupboard, and was eating his chips over the plate. No crumbs. I have to admit it made me smile and shake my head a little, but is that seriously normal for a four year old boy?
As of Sunday, no more Goldfish. They apparently get stuck in his teeth and make them feel dirty.
They made Fruit Loop necklaces in preschool a while ago. Another mom asked Brock if he was going to eat his. His reply, "NO! There are germs on it." Agreed, but I probably would have still let him eat it.
As soon as he wakes up he immediately starts asking to take a bath. If I don't respond immediately, he asks over and over and over again. He takes a bath every single day, so I don't know why he gets so frantic about it. Not like it isn't going to happen.
Sometimes I just want to get mad at him, but he is clearly not being a brat. He is genuinely upset. The whole thing seems to be getting worse not better. The waking up in the middle of the night probably has me the most concerned. To me that means "it", whatever "it" is, is really starting to effect how well he is able to function. I am sure some of this is my fault, I have really beat the whole clean thing into him, but he has taken it to a whole other level. Not to mention, Bradlee was raised the same way, and homegirl doesn't have a tidy bone in her body.
So, my question is on a scale of 1 to 10, how worried should I be? (1 meaning absolutely nothing to worry about, 10 meaning I have the next American Psycho on my hands.)
1 year ago
4 comments:
i would say 5. if you have someone you trust who is a child psychologist and can do just one initial session, try it.
so if you got the $200 or whatever for an initial consult i'd do it.
you can also ask your pediatrician their opinion.
all of the family is particular, as you could call it. so it is not surprising. as long as he still functions well, i wouldn't rate it above a 5.
I had to comment as a mom of someone with similar "peculiarities." I will say it can get better as they mature. But it takes a lot of work. We had to choose our battles, but also had to help her through times where she needed to learn how to cope and go with the flow. We tried to give her words to use when she would get too worked up over that other kids her age would not have noticed or that got in her way of her ability to enjoy life. We did a little making her suffer through things to learn she's survive and it wasn't the end of the world. It peaked by about 4 1/2, and by kindergarten she was much better. But if I had it to do over, I would seek professional help, just so I could get some guidance to get through some of those really trying times and gain some perspective on what's age appropriate and what could be building towards more long term issues. But that's just my two cents!
He sounds like an amazing kid who is a bit overly distressed about germs. I know a few adults who fit that description as well. I used to be one of them, in fact. It can make life a bit scary and overwhelming to deal with, to say the least. A little bit of help from a professional could go a long way in that department. I bet my step-mom could work with him. She is a wonderful child therapist. Maybe you could give her a try? I'm sure it could only help, maybe even work a few small wonders. :)
I'm a friend of Megan's (in her ward), and was just reading about your miraculous and hard past month! What a blessing.
As for this topic, my son also has similar issues and had basically been diagnosed with anxiety disorder. We go to therapy at the Children's Center in SLC, and they are amazing. I really can't say enough good about our experience there :)
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