Two thoughts

I had two thoughts today… (shocking, I know. Probably the ONLY two thoughts I had today. Keep reading and you’ll see why I say that….)

One: Matthew’s behavior has historically been “he’ll do ok for a week or two, and then he blows it and is right back to being a terror for a couple of weeks” That is something we’ve all said/noticed about him for MONTHS, if not years.

We were TOTALLY seeing a pattern, just in a broad kind of way. I kept looking for a pattern in the smaller things, like what sets him off? Anything can. Can’t find a pattern. He’s always been so volatile. Stupid little things might set him off, but great big things he might handle just fine.

The pattern isn’t in activities or events on a day-to-day basis. The pattern is in TIME.

He’ll have a couple of weeks in which he keeps the massive meltdowns and rages out of the picture almost 100% (maybe a few very brief moments of getting upset, but then getting over it again real quick before massive meltdown) and then have a couple of weeks in which that is pretty much the standard. The first week nearly all day every day, and then the second maybe better, but still not “good”. Like maybe only 2 or 3 big huge meltdown/rage/tantrum things, instead of 2 or 3 (or one looooooong one) a day.

Thought #2: I noticed that a lot of times I tell the kids to go do something and they get upset because they are doing something else I told them to do. The aha! part is that I’m telling them the 2nd thing because I’ve FORGOTTEN the first thing. No, I mean REALLY forgotten. I only realized it because tonight I caught myself. The kids have pointed it out to me before, but it never clicked what they meant. (I totally figured they were just trying to get out of doing whatever…)

I told Meagan to do something (I can not remember now what and it’s only been an hour) and walked by the bathroom door; saw her in there and started to tell her to go do something but then actually remembered, “hang on, I just told her to go do that other thing, so I’ll wait till she finishes that”.

Of course NOW, I have no idea whether I actually did tell her the second thing or not.

I don’t remember.