Wow, what a week! Elizabeth came down with a virus Wednesday afternoon, nothing serious but the kind that just wipes you out,and a slight temp. But the kind of virus that makes you want to get up from the couch only to move to the bed and repeat…

She had 3 days of what my kid’s refer to as “Room Service” That means just what it sounds like, they rest and I bring them their food and drinks to their rooms. Elizabeth is the best “sick” child we have. She rests and does what is asked…our other two are not always quite as pleasant. What is weird by this is that generally Elizabeth requires more involvement and effort but when she is ill, she does not.

I have 2 theories on this:

1. Because of her dyspraxia and all the effort it takes her to function in a typical day,she is happy to step off her
“treadmill” and have virtually no demands put on her. Imagine if someone took all your stresses or things that fatigue you away? Sounds quite peaceful doesn’t it

2. When her siblings are in school and she is not, she gets to be the “queen” of the house. The T.V.is hers, the den is hers and so on

I found myself enjoying knowing she was home with me.
Now comes the reality check..It is Sunday, she is feeling better as evidenced by no temp, a pink complexion and her running down the stairs to breakfast..So we began the day as if she was well only she DID NOT WANT to officially re-engage in life. She started showing signs of distress by teasing her brother, saying “No” to every request, She was shrugging away from most touches and acted like the sound of our voices bothered her ( a sign of her Sensory Processing Disorder coming to visit) Ugh! One thing I had forgotten was that after such a “break” it is harder for her to get organized to function than a typical developing child this is in part to her dyspraxia as well as the SPD.

I found myself working to figure out what sensory diet things we needed to do to help her…We started with a brushing, then wall push-ups and jumping jacks then a session of her therapy music from Advanced Brain called “de-stress’ followed by a time talking and sorting out feelings.

I am happy to say those interventions did help…but again isn’t it amazing that we have to think in such a different way to help our children do something that others will accomplish with little of no fan fare.

SPD and Dyspraxia are such factors in her life…even when they don’t show their faces they are there. We have all just learned to respect them and face them when they decide to show themselves!