wild child

some days are bad ones.  today was one of those days.  lately i've been trying to figure out what triggers them.  i suppose it was after i read about the migraine triggers and doing the food elimination diet for myself though i haven't done it yet.  i need to do a food log.  how many times have i said that?  so the last time we had a bad day was the monday after mom and dad left for kentucky.  that weekend, kendal had several PB&J sandwiches since they hadn't been to the grocery store. he probably ate one a weekend prior to that, and had at least one bad day a week.  that past monday, though, i stood in the bathroom door as he screamed at the top of his lungs and started considering what he had eaten. in our house, he eats generally the same things over and over.  that is all he'll eat.  picky boy.  i do try to encourage him to try new things but in general, he rejects it (i accept the rejection when he gags when he eats it.  i feel like he's too young to use gagging as manipulation at this point).  so anyway, the only thing "new" or different he'd eaten that weekend was PB - and a lot of it.  so there he was, screaming.  angry, hysterical.  everything was wrong, nothing was right.  time outs didn't work, spanking didn't work, going back to bed didn't work, screaming back didn't work - hugging didn't work - i'd exhausted everything.  he was still screaming.  (oh, and ignoring didn't work either.  he'd been screaming for hours at this point.)  so i hypothesized at that moment that he had a food sensitivity - and that it was peanut butter.

all kids have bad days.  sometimes he has rough ones that are unexplainable.  but, not like that.  and, not like i experienced this afternoon.

fast forward to today.  we met nathaniel for lunch at north hills.  i ordered kendal and holly both a PB&J sandwich.  today i was testing my theory. after we left, we went to target and that is where his misbehavior began.  usually he is a great shopper.  he listens and stays with me.  we were getting holly a new pair of sandals (since the ones i got her before were too small) and in the shoe section, he #1 touched everything, #2 whined, #3 pushed the cart, and #4 did not listen.  out the door, he whined about "where is daddy" (again, that isn't out of the ordinary but since we just hugged him bye, i should have known this was the start of what was to come...)  getting in the car, he started screaming.  screaming to the point that i'm surprised the mall cops didn't come make sure i wasn't hurting him (which i wasn't, i wasn't even reacting to it because i knew what was happening).  he and holly both zonked out on the beltline (we were en route to whole foods).   at whole foods, he did ok - though in the restroom, he decided that standing in one spot was out of the question (which is not normal for him).  he didn't listen to me while we were in the store and kept pushing the cart around - away from me.  he'd also walk away from me OR not walk with me (just stand there as i walked away).  like he was in another world.  he was somewhat whiney - and again, he screamed when we got in the car.  of coarse, he zonked out again before we were on the beltline and slept the whole way home (including going through the pharmacy drive thorugh).   when we got home, he screamed for about an hour at which point i made him go back to bed.  (he and holly both, have to be fair...)  he laid there and calmed down, never shutting his eyes - and when he got up about 20 minutes later, he was much better.  of coarse, later in the evening, he decided that the couch was a place to stand and he fell off the arm onto the floor and knocked his head on a toy and the floor in front of the fireplace.  it looked like he broke his back and neck.  he had/has two horrible spots on his head, it looked so bad that nathaniel *almost* cried (who am i kidding - he did cry!)  yes, it bled too.  kendal was off his rocker this afternoon and i feel like i can most certainly blame it on a reaction with our handy dandy friend mr. peanut.  i need to take a picture of it.  it is by far his worst "scar."

so, from this point forward, no more peanut for kendal.
and, from this point forward, i'm keeping a food log. 
and, from this point forward, i'm gonna figure what else triggers him "wild child"...