One step forward, two steps back

It's another poop blog. It seems as though a fair portion of my life consists of it so I share in case I'm not alone.
Emily is in a regression with her pooping. I was hoping it was a one time incident a week ago but unfortunately I'm seeing a trend. Rather than dwell on the negative, I'm just going to find the humor in it and do what I have to do to get her back on track.

First off I am going to say this as I've said it before. When a bowel movement is in the potty or in a pamper, it's poop. When it is in panties and on other surfaces and items, it becomes shit in my book.

This morning Emily woke up early. I heard her in the bathroom and called up to check on her. She said she was pooping. I asked her if she wiped and she said yes. She has been doing this independently for less than a year. She will be 11 next week. She has been using toilet paper instead of my towels and washcloths(which she puts back under the sink dirty when she is done) for about 4 months. Much progress has been made in her independent pooping. Well I didn't go up to check right then since I was putting contacts in Anna Grace and straightening her hair while trying to get breakfast on the table. She came down and I got her dressed as usual. Before we left I did go up to glance under the sink to make sure there were no shitty towels in there. Not a one so I assumed toilet paper had been used. We took the other two kids to school and returned home to wait until it was time for her to go. As a precaution before I took her to school I decided to check to make sure she wiped good. I will be damned if when she pulled her pants down she didn't reach around with her hand and touch her hiney. That was my first indication it was bad! Poop on finger. I then looked down and saw a pile of shit in her panties. I instructed her to take her pants off which she did but stepped in the poopy panties while doing so. This was not a job a couple of wipes could clean so I put her in the tub. With less than 30 minutes to get to school and an empty tank of gas I ran upstairs to get more clothes after tossing the poopy panties in the trash. I walked in her room and nearly fainted. There was shit in her bed and on her precious Penny the Pig Scentsy Buddy. Apparently she had not wiped with anything and had gotten back into bed using the sheets as toilet paper.

The sadness lies in the fact that progress had been made. She was doing so well in this very important skill. This is the third time in recent weeks she has been content to have poop in her panties without saying a word to me. She doesn't poop often and it's always been a huge part of her struggles when and if she goes. I will just have to work with her more to regain the skills she just had. One step forward and two steps back sometimes but we persevere.

The humor in this is that it is not typical. It's not something you wake up on a Monday morning and think...Yippee I'm going to clean poop today. In hindsight I'm almost glad I don't see these things coming. So today I laugh in the face of autism and say I can handle any shit that comes my way. Bring it.

Thanks for reading~
Jessica

Sun sets on summer

First off this summer was a bust. My typical kids didn't read a book. They didn't go to any summer camps. They sat here and played games and watched tv all summer. Sure we took a few trips and did some fun stuff but my typical summer schedule flew out the window somewhere around the second week of June and I just didn't have it in me to make this one the Best Summer Ever. Sue me.

I could feel guilty about it and in all honesty I do. But here's what I am going to say about that. I spend the entire year, summers included, thinking about my kids. They spend 9 months out of the year absorbing all the information that's thrown at them. I gave them a break. I wasn't in their face asking them to do anything this summer because I had a lot going on myself. I never stopped working with Emily however. Due to serious regression, she isn't afforded the luxury of doing nothing. I am not given a break from helping her. She blossomed this summer because of the work I did with her. I feel GREAT about that.

So to all the mama's who feel like they didn't achieve super star status this summer I say Good Job! Don't let anyone else make you feel like you didn't live up to their expectations of what you should have done with your kids. Unless someone wants to come and be camp counselor in the crazy house that I call home, I am not going to feel badly that the sun sets on summer and it may not have been the best one ever. We survived. And there's always next summer. I hope that the break of summer rested you up for the long days ahead and it's the Best School Year Ever.

Thanks for reading~
Jessica