Is it just me?

[TalesOfTheUnexpected]

...or are other Mums of SN kids glad but exhausted when the weekend is over and you can pack the kids off to school?

I love my children but the constant demands, especially over a weekend are just unbelievable.......

What's getting to me lately are the things I HAVE to verbally say to stop one of my sons having a tantrum (if I don't say the same thing every single morning, he goes into meltdown). Just that little thing of having to say things verbatim every single morning is wearing. If I don't say it, he says it for me. Or, if I don't say what he wants, he says "stop talking now Mummy" and flaps and cries.

It begins again when he gets home. I have to say certain things. He gets fixated on certain sayings and routines and will ask for food he doesn't really want and doesn't eat. What a waste.

It's like Groundhog Day, every-single-day.

It's a rant. No reply needed. I'm going back to bed

You should sleep easy after that

To be honest its the reverse for me. I rant all week as school is hell for him but the weekends are heaven as DS is calmer and happier in his home zone. I know what you mean by saying the correct thing all the time. DS went through a phase of insisting I said I love you every 10 mins. He can tell the time and if I missed it by a minute then he decided I didnt love him then. It was a nightmare that went on for days when he first started school. Its down to 3 times a day now in the morning, just as he gets home and just before bed phew! And as for eating he constantly raids the fridge every 10 to 15 mins from leaving school till bed so I keep lots of small snacks like carrot sticks, raisins and peas in pods as he has a few at a time so not so wastefull iyswim.

Good luck on a peaceful afternoon x

I definetly feel it after this weekend,dd2(4,6) has been having constant meltdowns,think it is because she is tired after a whole week of new school,though not sure,as she is non-verbal& does not sign when tired/ratty.Plus have nt pre-teen who has been having tantrum after tantrum about a multitude of things,homework,chores,life in general!!!
I am exhausted &glad for a couple of hours peace to collect myself together before end of school!!

so Talesoftheunexpected.. it seems you are poorly named and should be in fact Talesofthetediouslypredictable?

Yep I felt like that too after this weekend. I fell down the stairs and had to pretend I was fine cos DD was there. Actually I landed on my coccix and in FFFF..ing hurt.
I do keep trying to expand her abitility NOT to need the predicatble. eg 'I've already told you x so I dont need to say it again. You can say it by yourself if you want'. And reflect her questions back to her for her to answer herself, eg ' when are we going to have breakfast? becomes 'When do you want to have breakfast DD?' .Also write things out in a social story, (eg, My school mornings), pin it on her wall and say what does it say in your story? My DD is 14 and its not realistic to have her dependent on my FT support so sometimes i will choose to weather the storm rather than comply with her fixed demands. It can work- as long as i pick the right time to see it through.
But yeah I relish the silence on my respite weekends.. x

TalesOf, you are not alone. We all love our dc but boy they can be hard work. I have 2 NT ds aged 12 & 9, as well as SN 10yo so extremely hard work here. The 2 NT boys fight constant, and my 10yo with SN is 24/7 work. Doesnt sleep much, no communication so a lot is a guessing game, no sense of danger, cant do anything for himself, still in nappies (faecal smears), so i have to feed him, dress him etc. He can walk and is into everything, demolition derby lol. I love him more than life, however it doesnt mean we dont appreciate wee few hours to ourselves. He's in school until half 5 Mon & Thu and its bliss. Better pop off and collect him now, easy day over.

Thanks all. I feel better after a kip and a rant.

The daft thing is, I've worked hard with the Behavioural Therapist on stopping my son asking the same thing 20/30 times an hour, but it still does my head in that now and again.

I guess my patience level is low after the school holidays.

I will take a deep breath and remember it could be a lot worse.

Oh I feel your pain I really do, DS1 isn't even diagnosed, and I am constantly battling, as I really don't know what I'm doing, I'm saying the wrong things every time, and I'm sure I'm dealing with things all wrong. Last week and this weekend have been worse than normal, as I have no laptop for him to play on. I'm borrowing my friends atm, and as I've had to get mine fixed twice in the last 3 months he's not allowed on hers. Also I have had to deal with a lot of play fighting between him and ds2 who's nearly 3, ds1 is 9 btw so guaranteed ds2 will end up crying if I let things go to far, I would ban fighting all together but ds1 gets sensory input from this rough and tumble and enjoys being squished and punched and kicked from ds2 and he is calmer afterwards, it just involves a lot of squawking, shouting, etc, and that teamed up with the telly up really high to drown out the background noise, and me having to shout to be heard. I cannot wait for Monday mornings and 8.30 pm to come around !!!

I actually relish being able to just get on with the housework at 9:15 on a Monday morning. I am no domestic goddess and I hate doing housework, as well as finding most of it physically painful, but it's far more enjoyable than the constant verbal pissing contests with DS1.