Next week I will be taking Josiah to an appointment I would rather avoid. It is going to take courage to get him to that appointment. It is going to take courage to get him through that appointment. It’s even going to take courage after the appointment.  I had hoped we would never go down this path. But it appears we have no choice.

Josiah has been punching himself in the head. He punches hard with both fists. He hits himself on the sides of his head, right at his temples. When he is frustrated, he punches. He is strong. His punches are fierce. There have been times in which he has left huge bruises on his face. I can think of only 3 times, but even 1 time is too many.

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I’ve started affectionately referring to Josiah as Tigger. Tigger likes to bounce. Josiah likes to bounce too. Josiah bounces constantly. He bounces in his bed. He bounces at the kitchen table. He bounces on the toilet seat. He bounces on my bike. He bounces in the van. He bounces in the tub. He bounces across the floor. Then, he bounces back again.

Josiah can go from sleeping peacefully to wide awake and bouncing in 0.2 seconds. It’s amazing. I’ve watched him. One minute he is snoring. Snoring, I tell you and the very next second his eyes open up and ZING, in one swift motion he is up on his knees bouncing. If I happen to be on the bed when Josiah bounces, I get dizzy. He bounces with great vigor. He bounces with great delight. He bounces until I make him stop. A few minutes later he goes back to bouncing.

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Josiah has never been much of a sleeper. He has such an excess amount of energy. he’s like the Energizer Bunny. He just keeps on going and going and going. Actually, we have a few kids in this house who require minimal sleep. We’ve been kind of used to long nights and early mornings for a while now. But Josiah is a different breed. Long nights and early mornings for him, especially recently, mean he’s good to go with about 3-4 hours a night.

Unfortunately,. 3-4 hours for me would be a nap, not a full night’s sleep. I can’t for the life of me figure out how this kid can function on such little sleep. If he was a college student cramming for finals, it would be great. If he was a shift worker doubling up and taking on extra hours, still good.  But he’s a 9 year old child. And he’s not even remotely close to being independent.

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The following article arrived to my email in box a few days ago. Summer = Stress for Many Caregiving Families. Summer time is a favorite season for many families. It’s a season of vacations, backyard grilling, pool parties, happy campers and other fun activities. However, the summer months for parents and caregivers of special needs children and dependent adults can be quite stressful. With schools closed, lack of community resources and little or no relief caregivers’ are becoming overwhelmed with the continuous and demanding care their loved one requires. The stress they experience is equivalent to the stress associated with soldiers in combat.

Wow. That explains my situation exactly. It’s good to know what I am feeling is not uncommon. I’m not alone. That helps, a little.

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Josiah’s teacher called me last week. Josiah has been having issues getting on the bus at the end of the day during summer school. Not every day. Some days he walks down the hall and walks up onto the bus. Most days though, he doesn’t.  I’ve been noticing it on my end too. Though the first couple of days went pretty smoothly, the last few have been rather difficult. I had hoped we had somehow glided past this bus issue. It was pretty rough the last few months. I had hoped it would all simply end on the last day of school.

Two weeks had passed between the end of the school year and the beginning of summer school. That’s enough time for Josiah to ‘forget’ about whatever it was that was bothering him, right? I mean, for him, shouldn’t it be like starting over? Shouldn’t riding the bus be a whole new, exciting experience? An enjoyable adventure?

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