Doors

When moving through life, pushing forward to bigger, better, and more progress, sometimes we see things creep back in- thing we thought were gone and left to the dust. Things we thought were better off in the dust.

One thing that is making a slow comeback here is Joey's door fetish. He loves to open and close doors. As soon as he could open and close doors, he would. He loves my buffet, with the big square doors on either end, opening and closing, opening and closing, opening and closing. We haven't gotten that bad yet, but I can see it creeping in, creeping in. He has been finding doors to open and close. He discovered at door at the OT office. Open, close. Open, close. I caught him messing with the bathroom door. Open, close. Open, close. He was waiting to get in the car and discovered the driver door was unlocked already. Open, close. Open, close.

This is not a good sign.

But also, 'tis the season. The dog days are upon us. Our schedule has been a wild mess of summer activity. Even with the morning school routines, he knows it is different- breakfast is at home, lunch is with Grandma, not at school. His other teachers and classmates aren't there. The days are shorter, there is only four of them a week. It is a breath of routine in a swirl of unpredictability. The days are hot, which exacerbates everything- Joey hates being hot. The streams are starting to cross. Joey is hot, tired, and confused. He's stressing out.

We managed to get through Shoe Day without a meltdown. The lady at the shoe store was ready, braced for the usual. She handled it very well, talking him through putting the new shoes back in the box, letting him do it himself, so that the shoes "would be all clean and white for your new teachers and new friends!" Really, she did it very well. I think she did some research in preparation for us this year.

But now we have the doors. He is starting to throw toys when frustrated with them again. He is back on Blue's Clues and Little Bear.

Tomorrow, I am taking him tot eh Bug Box, just the two of us, while Andy is at camp. I'll see if I can get him to focus on the lizards, snakes, and bugs, maybe the frogs and turtles. Maybe get him to relax a bit in a place he finds positive and fun. Maybe I'll get some extra hugs and kisses in while I'm at it.

Three more weeks until school.