Part 52 ~ The Adventures of King Ben & Zeus the Big Dumb Dog

If you missed the start of this series, you can find it here. A lot of things will be the same or very similar.

I took my sleeping pill at 10:30 last night, ready for dreamland, but sometimes a benzo will act weird and make me dopey, but awake. I think the same thing happens with Ben & his trazodone sometimes. Anyway, I didnt go to sleep until some time after 1:00am.

Then 4:15, Bounce and Bedquake! I got a 10 minute cuddle before I was commanded to the living room. I’m so glad we decided to just leave the damnit TV on and playing Avatar 24/7. It makes these early morning just a little easier.

It took until almost 6:00 and 2 cups of coffee before I could keep my eyes focused. Apologies if any of my comments or replies were odder or had more typos than usual.

I wrote “Happy Mother’s Day” on a piece of paper and tried to get Ben to copy it.

He had his markers out anyway… Well…he had his red marker out. He was putting  “blood” on his Sweeney Todd Barber Chair Toy victims.🤦‍♀️ It’s borderline disturbing, TBH. I know if I make a big deal about it, he’ll just dig his heels in further. This phase will pass and he’ll go back to Resident Evil trains, or Big Ben Clocks, or wearing his Guy Fawkes mask to be V from V for Vendetta, or the Hunter from Jumanji (original with Robin Williams).

His main interest is the chair itself. The way it flips back & slides the people off into the cellar. Gears and engineering is a good thing for him to be interested in. I think autism makes him need the whole scenario though. It has to be all of it, in order, for it to be right. I’m guessing, obviously. I’m not autistic so I can’t know, plus autism is as different in each person as the people are.

6:30 meds and the uncovering of Sven and turning on his lights. He spent all night in the Pouting Corner. After I sat back down, I could see him at his bowl, trying to get the two blueberries he missed yesterday. His aim is so terrible… Poor Sven.

6:45 Ben came out of his room fully dressed. Yep! Vest, tie, jacket, socks & those damn shoes! All over his PJs. Little goofball.

Daughter texted at 7:00 that she was on the way home. She normally gets off work at 6:45, so it must’ve been a hard night. Meanwhile Ben is stomping around and throwing plastic butter knives at me. Goodness! Chaos at Casa Cuckoo. Come on meds!! Do your thing!  Sven seemed to find it all amusing

Daughter got home at 7:30, and I prompted Ben with “What are you supposed to say to Mommy?”. The engine was revving, but the transmission was stuck in neutral. I showed him the paper I had written on, he said “Happy Mother’s Day, Mommy!”. Hurray for Ben!!

Daughter and I discussed her shift and my morning. We had to laugh at the ridiculousness of both. Then she and Ben (and Diesel Cat, come from outside) went to her room. I told Ben to grab his chalk. Can you guess what he said? Yep! “I need help!” I’m sure there must be some complicated math formula that explains how kiddos can Spaz all over the place, yet be unable to carry a bucket of chalk less than 40 feet. I’ll bet it’s pretty too with all the variables and parentheses and other mathy symbols.

Zeus and I went to my room. I was tired, but wide awake from the SpazmaTaz morning. I read some blogs, some emails, some text messages… I listened to Ben singing and making other “Happy Noises” from Daughter’s room, and Zeus snoring. Chill Time on the Horizontal. Nice!

The 10:25 alarm went off on my phone. You guys know what happens next, right? Yep! I put Mr Grumpy Beard in the shower, then got Ben’s meds ready and took them to him (he was on his way out of Daughter’s room. I heard her tell him she was going to sleep at 10:00). Then I went back to pick up the chalk. I attacked Sven with the toothbrush and made him mad, then I left him to his Bliss. Ben sat on the couch with his tablet and some popcorn.

I left Sven in the shower for almost an hour. The water was on very low, Fellow Californians, I know better than to waste water. I was born here. Then it was time for Nom Noms. A bed of kale, 4 blueberries and some wild arugula on top. No grasshopper, he hasn’t pooped in a couple days and I worry about insects with hard shells making him constipated.

I went away. Sven was irritated and didn’t eat. He went to hang out on his hammock instead. Poor Sven.

Noon meds delivered while Ben did his chalk thang. He alternated between the chalk, his newest “Sweeney Todd Barber Chair toy” and his tablet. Occasional cries of “I need help!” kept me busy.

Daughter got up and came to take over Living Room Duty around 2:15. I told her Ben had been good and that I had given him his 2:00 meds. I got myself some more coffee and went to go lay down. Zeus followed and so did Ben. I started feeling really sleepy and was drifting off into a doze, but it was very quiet… why was it so quiet? Why was Ben being so quiet? I forced myself to the surface to see why Ben was so quiet. He wasn’t asleep, which was what I was afraid of. He was just watching his tablet with his earbuds in.

Ben hung out in my room or in the living room, back and forth for the rest of afternoon. He was very kind in making sure that I didn’t accidentally doze off. Every time I felt myself slipping over the edge, he needed help, or his legs weren’t working, so he needed me to fetch something for him, or he needed tape… just thinking of me, Bless his little heart.

Around 5:00 Daughter was cooking steak for Ben’s dinner when he started talking about McDonald’s. I told him that maybe he could have Micky Dees tomorrow, but Mommy was making his steak already.

Just a regular day at Casa Cuckoo. I was thinking about Mother’s Day today and wondering why we celebrate it? Does any mother ever really get a day off? I was thinking about Daughter working last night, and tonight. I was thinking about every Mother’s Day since she was born. The few times that Mother’s Day was celebrated was when my mother was “Queen For The Day”.

I do miss the school art project gifts. When Ben started school, I got the “Father’s Day” art and Daughter, of course, got the art for “Mother’s Day”. At the school he goes to now, Daughter and I both got Mother’s Day art. This was my gift last year

 

Thanks for hanging out with us!

Come by tomorrow, I’ll have the coffee ready…or tea if you prefer. We’ll tape some stuff together, sing some songs, share some laughs… and hugs… lots of hugs!