Jacob’s teachers laughed at me last year when I said that even one day with a substitute teacher would throw off his entire week. They thought I was crazy, I guess.
Today was one of those days that his world is completely off. Daddy’s out of town and I was at work late, so he and his siblings spent a few hours with their grandparents. They love spending time with their grandparents, but it’s just not part of the daily routine during the week. Once I got them home, it was like all heck broke loose…
Jacob couldn’t stop saying “Farty fart fart” and “Thingie and a thingie.” These are two of his most-used phrases. “Thingie and a thingie” used to actually be “Thingie and a thingie and a blah blah blah.” I’ve heard it’s from a movie, but I have no idea which movie that is.
Anyway, with Daddy gone, he couldn’t stop ticcing and saying his phrases long enough to read 20 minutes. I heard all kinds of random words coming from the kitchen while he was trying to read. I almost told him to not worry about his reading tonight because he just couldn’t settle down. The timer rang and I let him count it as his nightly reading for school, but I know he probably didn’t read much.
Tomorrow he will be really off, too. I wish that it wasn’t like this.
So I wrote all that yesterday and the evening was super fun after that. My 2.5-year-old threw up in his bed so I had to clean him up. Them my 8-month-old was up screaming. It was chaotic. We apparently have a stomach bug going around. This morning, Jacob and my 7-year-old had it. They made it through the day.
But yes, as I anticipated, Jacob’s off today. Again he can’t settle down to get his homework done. He keeps talking to himself and making noises with his mouth. To totally tap out his sensory chaos, he’s got a loose tooth that’s driving him nuts. I’ve always had to pull them out because it bothers him so much. He hates wiggling it and just wants it out.
I thought about him all day today. I know people always assume that someone with Tourette’s yells out curse words all the time. I wish I could shake them and tell them that’s so not true. Jacob yells random, totally inappropriate things and completely inappropriate times. I wish people understood that TS is so much more than the stupid media portrayal. I wish I could educate everyone on it so that they understood that TS is not something you can control.
