Put a Sock in it!

Today was another good day! Nothing eventful happened, so I am very grateful for this! I was able to get some overdue painting done, and even got to watch a movie of my choice today on Netfilx! The children played outside most of the day, and everyone got along! Not even one fight! Again I recognize this as something to celebrate!
This evening I got my hair done, and came home and had a Blizzard with Jeremy.  Oh dear....this needs to stop!  Summer is so hard for me to keep weight off!  I tend to eat when I am stressed. Summer is very stressful for me.  I also do not get to go out walking like I do when the kids are in school. This is starting to get to me, as I can feel it starting to creep back up.  Note to self...stop eating.
I did want to share a funny story about Ben that happened earlier in the week. It really demonstrates the way a Sensory Disorder works.
Ben has always been sensitive when it comes to his feet. He is specific when it comes to the kind of socks he wears. If they are too loose or too tight or the cotton isn't soft enough he won't wear them. So we found a brand of socks he likes from Walmart, and he always wears them without problem. I even send him an emergency pair with him to school in the event he has a problem at school and needs to change his socks.
Well the other day we were getting ready to go for a nice walk, and even a visit to the corner store for a treat.  We were all ready to go and I hear Ben crying uncontrollably in his room. I go upstairs to find out what is wrong. He can't find a pair of socks that "feel" right.  He says "my socks are attacking me".  I point out that these are the same socks he wears everyday...he insists that he needs new socks as they are just not right and are to sharp and not soft enough.  I suggest several pair, and none are good enough.  I suggest wearing flip flops, but he refused. 
So we didn't go anywhere that day as a result of this, which didn't go over well with Olivia and Isaac.
Later that evening we had plans to go out, so I gave Ben a heads up that we were going to have to find some socks for him to wear. We started with a pair I had given him earlier that day when he was upset, and told him these were the newest of all his socks.  It was so funny, he took them from me, smelt them, rubbed them on his cheek and then pronounced "Yup, that's good cotton!" and put them on.
I am not sure what made the difference from the morning to the evening. But it shows that if it doesn't feel right to a child with Sensory Issues, believe them. The child is not making it up. Our pediatrician said that for the majority of people it is a minor annoyance when something doesn't fit quite right or a tag is scratching us, but to a person with Sensory Disorder it's like wearing sand paper on your feet and being forced to keep them on all day.  Unimaginably distracting, and annoying, and even painful.
So this is something that I have to remind myself of, every time Ben has a reaction that is hard to explain or doesn't make sense.  He can't help the way he is feeling, nor can explain it...he just knows it's not right. Finding the patience and the flexibility to deal with it, is the hard part.

I am grateful however that we finally know why this happens, and we are learning to cope.