Who Needs a Pill?
The kids had a three-day weekend, meaning no medication for Dylan. Since I am now convinced that the medication is the root of all evil, I paid close attention to Dylan’s behavior.
First, and best, there was not even a minor incident with his becoming irritable, crabby, despondent, despairing, morose or even sad. He was happy all the time – just like he was when he was a toddler. He smiled constantly. He wanted to do everything. He didn’t have even a moment of depression. And this was over the course of THREE DAYS.
Second, he was bouncy. I mean, he was everywhere. He is BIG – taller than me already, with enormous feet – but he was climbing on things, hanging on people and touching, Touching, TOUCHING everything he could see! It drove me crazy. It always drives me crazy. Again, this is how he has been since he was a toddler.
Third, he couldn’t keep his hands off of Shane. Because Shane is smaller, Dylan has no trouble forcing Shane into submission for whatever he wants to do. He grabs Shane by the shoulders, pushes him into things, head butts him and tackles him. He constantly HUGS Shane – although they are not comfortable hugs. So this weekend, I took it upon myself to stop yelling at Dylan about his brother, and I started hugging Dylan instead.
This worked BEAUTIFULLY. He stayed off of his brother (more), and he was able to get that physical stimulation. AND I was able to hug my son! Woo-hoo! He may be almost a teenager, but he’s not gone yet. Double bonus.
Meanwhile, I emailed some of my lists about possible medication changes. Apparently this is not an uncommon problem. Parents who have lived through this say that medication works differently as the hormones start raging through our kids’ bodies. So we are going to either have to find a new medication or – as some moms did – take away medication completely.
This morning, I gave Dylan the choice – at least until our appointment with the neurologist next week. He opted to take the pills. He also told me I shouldn’t start arguments with him. This is so laughable, I can’t even go into the details – but Dylan debates every single word that comes out of my mouth (especially when he’s taking those pills).
So we’ll just hang in there and see how it goes…!