Monday, May 28, 2007

Hello RAD where ya been?

Sometimes I can live my life like a normal mom. I complain that the laundry and dishes never end, I fret over birthday parties and I talk a little too much about poop and pee. But then, some days I am reminded that our lives will never be "normal".

After a pretty uneventful holiday weekend Lili had a raging meltdown tonight. Lili is a sweet little girl who is mentally about half her chronological age. She has mild Cerebral Palsy and has only been walking unsupported for about 6 months. She has a diagnosis of RAD but we have worked through some pretty rough attachment issues. I say worked through.....but it's never over.

Tonight I cleaned up feces from the floors, walls and bedroom door. She took all the clothes out of her closet that she could reach and smeared them with poo. She was unconsolable. It took forever to calm her down. After she was cleaned up I laid down with her and told her over and over again that everything was alright, she could go to sleep now.

But really I have no idea if everything is alright. I don't even know what set her off.

3 comments:

Gawdessness said...

That is the hardest thing the not knowing.
(((hugs)))

Amanda said...

I wish I had something constructive to say... thinking of both of you.

Beth said...

I'm told I did something like that once when I was a baby. (Although the way my parents tell it, it was more of a creative artwork expression than an emotional meltdown.) I was probably not too much younger than Lili's developmental age at the time.

I've never fostered a child with RAD. But from what little I know about it, it sounds like there are some good signs. She took it out on property rather than living creatures. She let you lay down with her.

You must be so exhausted. I wanted to cry this morning just because a lamp fell over and broke when I was particularly sleep-deprived!