Experiments

My son has been diagnosed with PTSD and attachment disorder. Basically, this means that he has triggers that he reacts to that seem to set him off and he is not in his right mind. He does crazy things like throw amazing temper tantrums, whine, run away, etc. This hardly ever happens when I'm around, but when I'm not there, these things occur often. (some more often than others). I've been taking him to therapy for about a year now and it has helped him tremendously. He's a much calmer kid and at least around me he's one of the most well behaved kids I know. Unfortunately, everyday that I'm at work, I worry about what he's up to. Is he having a tantrum? Is he listening to the babysitter? When I go to pick him up, I get a knot of anxiety in my stomach about his day. Usually it starts out with... "Joshua didn't take a nap. He then..." fell of the couch, threw a fit, hit a kid, told the babysitter he wasn't going to listen, feigned illness, picked leaves off a plant... all of these things have happened. Along with this diagnosis is a child choosing to poop and pee on themselves. Today, he chose to pee on himself. When asked why, his response: "I was doing an experiment." On the one hand, I'm sure that makes you laugh. You have to admit, that's pretty darned cleaver for a 4 year old. Not so funny if you're the sitter and sitting right there and he announces that he's wet himself. He had an accident this morning while he was sleeping and I didn't make a big deal out of it so he decided he was going to do it again to get a bigger reaction. I swear sometimes, I wish I was in his brain and knew why he does this. How bizarre. We're supposed to go to the zoo and I wasn't going to take him after this incident; but God and I started talking and He said to take him anyway. The thing is, I'm not worried about him on the trip. He's going to do well and be his charming self because again, I'm there! But I can't be there all the time. I wish I had a magic wand that could solve this problem. I've tried behavioral charts, food, privileges, motivation, spanking... you name it, I've done it. And yet, when he's feeling upset and anxious, these bizarre behaviors return.

The babysitter pointed out that these sets of behaviors started happening on Tuesday... this is the day after we went to visit his half brother. He does have to adjust to the fact that his brother has been adopted. I think that he struggles with that. But, both of us mothers feel it's important for them to know that they are family and connected. There's nothing worse than not being able to fill in the pieces. I wish that he was healed enough that this wouldn't be such an issue. It makes me sad and at times, a little resigned. An experiment... geez kid. I don't think that your hypothesis was correct. The results weren't what you expected either.