If you’re new to Many Hats Mommy, you may want to click over here and read about the back-to-school transition at the beginning of this school year. Even when my son is transitioning to something he likes, it is still hard for him.

This brings us to our first week of home schooling kindergarten. We have had ups and downs. Considering that my son is autistic, I would say it has gone well. I knew it would not be perfect. I knew I would need to learn to deal with a lack of attention span and my son’s frustration with imperfection. That’s ok. We’ll get through it.

Wednesday my son was overstimulated, or on overdrive, practically the entire day. Unfortunately, when we got to our Exercise Expedition, we had to cut it short because he wouldn’t use self-control. A full EE would have been a tremendous help to calming his body.

We made it through the rest of the school day and even trying a new game. Right before rest time I was considering how I was going to help him calm down. I knew he couldn’t do it himself. I was telling an online friend across the ocean, who also has a child on the spectrum, that I was considering piling a bunch of blankets on him and rocking him in the recliner. The pressure of the blankets would help his sensory-overloaded body calm down. I told her, “My bag of tricks is almost empty. Who wanted to clean the bathroom anyway?” I meant that by having to sit with him, there went my time slot for cleaning the bathroom.

She asked if I had tried a bath, that those often soothed her daughter. “Great idea! I forgot about a bath! I’ll start the water right now.” I dumped a whole bunch of epsom salts into the running water for their soothing effect. This would work!

I went into his room and explained that he wasn’t able to calm down, so I was going to give him a bath. Now, normally he likes a good bath. In fact, sometimes he just asks for one out of nowhere, for no apparent reason, though I think it’s to relax in the water.

No such luck today. “I don’t want to take a bath.” Yup. I took him out of his bedroom, closed the door so little brother could rest, and told him to start removing his clothes. Of course he got angrier. “I DON’T WANT TO TAKE A BATH!” Now, I really should have just put his clothes back on and put him in my room. But I was in not-give-in mode by this time.

“You’re going to take a bath,” I told him as I put him in the tub. What do you think he did? He started screaming. I just ignored him. Then I started hearing splashing. Then a sound that you know is not right–water coming OUT of the tub. Lots of it.

I knew I was in danger of losing it and I would have a mess to clean either way, so I waited and just listened as I assumed water was being dumped by the cupfuls out of the tub. What a stinker! I finally composed myself and went to face the scene of the crime.

Great geysers, Batman! In his fury, my son had used his hands, instead of the supposed cup, to dump about a quarter of the water out of the tub and onto the floor. He was standing there, splashing in the mess he had made. I truly was incredulous! I really wanted to scream, but that’s ultimately not good for any child, especially for an autistic child with hyper-sensitive hearing. I did give in and say, “I can’t believe you did this,” in a rather strong voice. He said something, and I have no recollection of what he said. I just answered, “I can’t believe you did this!”

I put a towel on him and managed to calmly help him dry off and put on underwear. “You made a really big mess.” I said a few other things that I can’t remember.

My son told me, “You need to tell God you’re sorry. You’re yelling.”

“No, I’m not,” I replied, though my stern voice may have sounded like yelling to his sensitive ears. I was about to earn another badge of motherhood.

“You’re lying. I’m going to call the policeman, and he’s going to come take you away.” I was so shocked he said that, I asked him to repeat what he said. “I’m going to call the policeman, and he’s going to come take you away.” Oh, there it is! I have joined the ranks of mothers whose children threatened to call the police.

“Who will take care of you if they take me away?”

“Daddy.”

“Daddy’s at work.”

Hmmm…no response. He stood there in his underwear, furious with me. I told him to get up on my bed so he could wait there while I cleaned up the mess. This would allow him to calm down and me to have some space before I lost my temper. “This town isn’t big enough for the both of us,” he angrily told me, standing on the bed in his underwear. To my credit, I did not laugh. I simply said, “You’re right,” and I shut the door. I think he started yelling something, but I don’t remember.

I took my time cleaning the bathroom. Now I had a clean bathroom floor after all. It took a while as there was a LOT of water.

I waited a while and then went in and chose mercy. I knew he was overstimulated and dealing with the transition of school, and I was just going to try to get him calm. I told him to come sit in the chair with me as I went to get a pile of blankets. I piled on a heavier blanket first, then a few fleece ones that are his favorites, making sure the fringe was sticking out on top so he could play with it. “Do you want to rock or sit still?” I asked him.

“Sit still.” And so we sat there. “Can I have my snowman lantern?” He had received a mini snowman snow globe for Christmas that lights up. I handed it to him, and we looked at it under the blanket together for a while, enjoying the changing colors. It got too hot for me under those blankets, and I let him just watch the lights and calm down. We sat there for quite a while. He wanted to look at his new “school [picture] Bible,” and I rested. I almost got a nap.

Eventually it was time to get up and play some more for the afternoon. I piled blankets on top of him again at bedtime, their pressure calming his system. We had made it through another day.

The rest of the week had its ups and downs, too. His stimming (repetitive behaviors) have driven me to the brink of insanity. Wednesday and through Thursday morning he was practically a walking fireworks display, mimicking the sounds. I just try to “buckle down” in my spirit and almost ignore things so I don’t go crazy. I know home schooling is right for him, and I know he will adjust and calm down. I just have to wait it out.

In the mean time, send me chocolate and a weighted blanket for myself!