Oops, I Did It Again!

A couple of weeks ago, Steve and I figured out that pure sugar in the form of cotton candy in the hypoglycemic body of our 7 year-old son is not a good combination, especially when you add the third element, Asperger's Syndrome. One would think after experiencing the night of wicked terror, that this would be an easy rule to remember and adhere to.

OK, so we're not real good at the remembering part. When things are going pretty well, we sometimes fail to cross-apply the evidence to similar situations. Tonight we failed big time!

Because Ian bought his lunch at school, I had no way of knowing how much he had truly eaten because there was nothing to bring home in his red lunch sack. I am fairly certain he ate a chicken nugget or two and an entire piece of chocolate cake. It's probably a reasonable assumption that he skipped the fruit and veggies. After school he was wild. I made a huge bowl of popcorn for him to share with his friend, Jack. Jack and I ate most of it.

Before leaving to go out to dinner, he had a couple of graham crackers. Ainsley gave him some jelly beans. He had a few more chicken nuggets and some lemonade for dinner. The puzzles on the bag they came in were far more interesting than putting food in his mouth.

Then we headed to a fund raising event at Ainsley's school. The place was noisy and packed. Steve noticed right away that Ian felt uneasy, so we tried to get out as quickly as we could. I don't know why I felt it was necessary to participate in the bake sale. Probably because one of my dearest friends had baked a cake for it and I wanted to see if it was still there. Ian bought some chocolate chip cookies, and Ainsley selected a cupcake. At that point, I was still somewhat oblivious to the turmoil going on inside my son.

When we got home, he fell apart. It was a little different this time, in that he seemed to be smiling, with occasional giggles, as he screamed and kicked, and curled up into a fetal position. Steve was convinced it was an act. I was too at first. We teased him a little to see if we could change his reaction, but he really didn't seam to be hearing us. My gut told me this was getting serious.

Finally, I started putting things together in my mind. His strange behavior this afternoon, what he had eaten - the lemonade was not the sugar-free kind he is used to, it was the really syrupy kind - his anxiety, all pointed to something more than just an act. I brought him some cheese and whole-wheat bread. As he at the snack he seemed to become more alert and able to communicate coherently. He was exhausted.

Ian climbed into bed without brushing his teeth and without a story. Sugar hopped up next to him. She always knows when someone needs her unconditional love. Ian asked me to stay too, so the three of us snuggled for a few minutes. Then Ainsley came in and decided to join the love-fest. Steve showed up momentarily and sandwiched us in tight. All five of us on Ian's twin bed. Now THAT'S a FAMILY HUG!

I have vowed to make certain I know every morsel that goes into that child's mouth until he is able to monitor his nutrition for himself. And I will teach him what sugar does to his body and to know what foods contain it so he can avoid them. He is smart enough to understand. I just need to find some brilliant way of making him WANT to learn how to take better care of himself. He has to take responsibility for it.

Now, how do you help a kid develop a sense of responsibility when he thinks like the cartoon Calvin and Hobbes?