Foster2Forever

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Why This Meltdown? Identifying Emotional Triggers

Does your child randomly throw a tantrum for no reason? There could possibly be big reason for the tantrum…

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For those of you who follow on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, you may have read this update–

What was the trigger for this emotional outburst?

The 5-year-old who had been diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder, had had a GREAT morning! We rewarded him with choosing where we would have lunch after church. He decided he wanted to have lunch at “Bo King” – Great!  Hubs ordered our lunch when the child decided he wanted some Cinnabon rolls.

FosterDad’s reply: “After you finish lunch.”

And then the tantrum started! There was not a “NO” said to the little tyke. But, regardless, he fell to the floor immediately, in full-tantrum mode.

Anything we said to him, only agitated him more. So we left him there. In the order line at Burger King.  With other customers stepping over him.

Anytime I went to check on him, it only inflamed him more – to the point where he was kicking the display signs. So I left him there.

The rest of the family was in the play area eating. Then after a few minutes, he began peeking to see what we were doing. Eating. That’s what we were doing. Not paying attention to him.

Then he stands up, one hand on the napkin dispenser, daring me to notice him, so he could pull out all the napkins and throw them on the floor.  I moved to where he couldn’t see me.

A few minutes later, he peeked into the play area.  My response:

“Oh boy, you look hungry! Is my little boy hungry?”

He then hopped into my lap and enthusiastically ate his lunch!!! MY SON WAS HUNGRY!!! (Low blood sugar can trigger the fear response in a neglected child)

I did acknowledge his poor behavior by discussing it while rubbing his back. “Does throwing a fit get your way? No? Let’s try harder next time!”

Afterward we had the best Sunday afternoon at home as a family in a month!

I’m currently reading The Connected Child: Bring hope and healing to your adoptive family (are you reading along with me?).

I’m now on Chapter 3 (“Solving the Puzzle of Difficult Behavior”) which discusses how a child’s emotional trauma and difficult background can trigger difficult behaviors in everyday situations.

The Takeaways About Emotional Triggers:

  • Keep a journal of your child’s daily activities and behaviors to try to decipher the emotional triggers
  • Learn everything you can about a child’s background and trauma, i.e. sexual abuse, prenatal drug or alcohol exposure, neglect
  • Watch for patterns (i.e. transitioning from one activity to the next)
  • Be alert to any triggers that may cause your child to lose control of their emotions.

Read the shocking truth about how I discovered the trigger behind this child’s outbursts.

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I’m Treating my Kindergartner Like a Baby – And It’s Working

For those of you with children that may have Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) or other attachment issues, you can understand the disruption it causes in your family. The sheer exhaustion of it all.

Many times I am overwhelmed by the reaction that my child has sometimes. And nothing seems to work. However, after so many of you recommended it, I finally began reading The Connected Child: Bring hope and healing to your adoptive familyby Dr. Karyn Purvis of TCU.  (Read about Feeling Hopeless from Chapter 1. Are you reading along?)

Chapter 2 of The Connected Child is “Where Your Child Began” and describes all the sensory input your adopted child may have missed to be able to form normal attachments in life. Chapter 2 of the companion study guide, Created to Connect, focuses on feeling compassion for your child.  I do feel compassion for my child – I love him – but sometimes when he turns into possessed devil-child, I just want to lay down the strict law to get his little butt to straighten up!

However, there was one small sentence in the book that hit me: “Your job, as parents, is to help these children get what they missed…” Then the study guide expanded on this concept about “Returning to the Beginning” discussing how children may actually be required to “go backwards” in order to move forward. When I read the illustration about the older adoptee wanting hot tea with her mom many times a day and her mom’s comparison to bottles and sippy cups, it struck a chord with me.

Although we received our child as an 8-month-old foster baby, do we need to somehow go backward and makeup for those first 8 months of neglect?

One night, our child had another horrible episode. He wanted to go outside and play football but was refusing to eat supper. He even attempted to throw his plate across the room. FosterDad was clearly in discipline mode.  I intervened with another approach.

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As I scooped my little one up in my lap, he first fought me, but in a soft baby-toned voice, I began saying: “Oh! My little baby needs to eat supper, but this food is for big kids. Let’s mash this up and put a bib on this baby! Oh, here’s a bite. Open wide, baby…”

Would you believe, he began playing like he was a baby and anxiously took bite after bite until he was done?  Then he got down and went outside to throw the football with Daddy.

Whoa! Crazy, huh? But it worked!

Then the next night again, he was throwing a fit about wanting some candy, but we had Pediasure for him to drink. I picked up the squirt bottle it was in, acting like it was a bottle, and put my child in my lap in the rocking chair. “Oh, look at this baby needing his bottle!”  He drank it quickly and the evening went well after all that drama.

This is nuts! But it’s working!

Now, I don’t want my child ruling the roost, so to speak, but by “going backwards”, he is getting something that he missed, and we, as parents, are getting him to mind (in a weird kind of way).  Is this approach the right approach?  Who knows?

There will be someone that will criticize me for “giving in” to his fits, but it’s working right now for our family right now.

Hopefully, I won’t be picking him up and treating him like a baby when he’s a teenager – THAT would be awkward!

Are you reading The Connected Child along with me? What may your child have missed? How can you go backwards to help heal your child?

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Feeling Hopeless

Hopeless (noun) – Having no hope; despairing; bleak; incurable; impossible.

That same emotion that overwhelmed me during our journey through infertility.

But now I have that child I dreamed of!

That child that was conceived in November 2006 as the fertility doctor told us our prognosis.

That child that was in God’s plan all along.

That child that was placed in my arms on March 4, 2008, and smiled at me.

That child that became my forever son in August 2oo9.

My dream of motherhood came true!  How in the world can I feel hopeless? Do I even have that right?

During my short parenting journey with 5-year-old Stinkpot, there have been numerous times when I’ve wept and cried out, “God, please help my little boy!”

I’ve felt hopeless when he would have HUGE meltdowns that would last an hour and nothing I could do would comfort him.

I’ve felt hopeless that after taking him off of allergy medicines known to cause aggression – that he would still have these meltdowns.

I’ve felt hopeless when his daycare called at noon one day (after numerous days of meltdowns) and asked me to pick him up and told me that they wouldn’t care for him anymore and to find another daycare.

I’ve felt hopeless when his second daycare called at noon one day after only three weeks to pick him up and told us to find another daycare.

I’ve felt hopeless when his third daycare called before noon because he was having a meltdown – they called his meltdown state a “possession.” He lasted eight weeks at his third daycare.

I’ve felt hopeless that he couldn’t handle his third daycare, even after being prescribed medications by a psychiatrist.

I’ve felt hopeless that even now he still has major meltdowns that last over an hour (yesterday because we didn’t go out to eat a lunch buffet).

Will my little boy ever be able to overcome his neglected past and handle rejection and disappointment appropriately?

This is my fear as my little boy grows up.

After reading Chapter 1 of The Connected Child: Bring Hope and Healing to Your Adoptive Family and especially the study guide, Created to Connect, I realized that I have to shift my focus from his meltdowns to my child as a whole.  These meltdowns are not who my child is. The meltdowns are the feelings of rejection that overwhelm him. He doesn’t understand the emotions and can’t control them.

As I look at my “whole child”, I see an incredibly bright, athletic, and determined gorgeous little boy!

That determination will be the death of me as a parent! However, that incredible determination will keep him motivated to complete whatever goals he sets in life.

This is what I need to remember to keep my grip on hope! (And also that he is only five years old.)

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” ~Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

My child has a future full of hope!

What challenges have you faced in parenting your foster children? What are the beautiful qualities in your child that you might overlook during the challenging times?

UPDATE: We discovered that my son suffers from hypoglycemia – his tantrums were caused by hunger that he was unable to express. Hallelujah! {Don’t give up hope for the answer!}

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Why Back to School Frightens Me

It’s time for BACK TO SCHOOL!!!  And I am anxious – more than a child, I believe. You see, our strong-willed RADish begins Kindergarten soon.

Back to School time is probably not a big deal to most moms – except that sadness to see your little baby walking into big school for the first time.

But this year, for me, Back to School time brings on anxiety and worry about how my little boy (with emotional needs that are tough to understand) is going to handle the pressures of school.

He was kicked out of three day cares for behavior issues. (Yes – Three!!!)  Last year, when he was kicked out of the third day care, we enrolled him in half-day Pre-K while FosterDad and I took turns using FMLA to care for him.

School for only half the day was a good thing for him. He still had a few bad days, but for the most part, a good transition for him. When asked how was school that day, he would reply:

“No time out. No trip to the principal’s office. It was a Good Day!“

However, our child is enrolled in full-day Kindergarten for this upcoming school year.

Lately, especially after having 3 foster children in our home for a few weeks, he has been regressing. Last weekend, for FosterDad’s birthday, we attempted overnight respite. He raged for HOURS after I left him with the caregiver. (He won’t be going back there!)

Is our child ready for BACK TO SCHOOL?

I don’t know! But our backup plan is that if our child isn’t ready for full-day Kindergarten — he can just repeat Pre-K!

Pros:

  • He just turned 5 so a late birthday won’t matter much – He is currently at the 5th percentile for height & hopefully wouldn’t be the smallest in the class
  • He knows the teachers and the teachers know him
  • FosterDad is now retired so he can care for our son half the day

Cons:

  • He is bright so repeating will bore him –
  • With a late birthday for a small boy obsessed with sports, we want hold him back one year but hoping it would be Kindergarten where he would have a stronger curriculum.

We are praying that our child adjusts well this school year.

What are your fears or anxieties about Back to School?

UPDATE: My son had a fabulous year with only one incidence of misbehavior!!!

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Can You Stay Home with Your Foster Children?

Because of his explosive behavior, our son had gotten kicked out of his second daycare before Christmas 2010. He was only 3 years old!

I had ignored my rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and not taken time off work when he was first placed with our family in March 2008 or for his adoption the next year; but I wouldn’t again! So last spring, I took family leave to spend more time with my 4-year-old. My little boy needed his mommy!

I enrolled him in a couple of Mother’s Day Out programs, working part-time, giving me the ability to extend my 12-week leave throughout the spring until school was out when he could stay home with FosterDad (a teacher). I continued working to ensure our medical insurance would be paid.

Our son improved tremendously! No melt-downs or tantrums at MDO the entire spring or summer!!! (I wish I could say the same for at home)

Last fall, thinking a year at home had helped him, we were excited to enroll our son into highly-regarded daycare/preschool in our area. He had been on the wait list for two years!

At 4-years-old, he seemed ready. And he was — for only about 8 weeks; the stress of all-day care finally caught up with him. His explosions were worse! More out-of-control than ever!

We had to do something! We made the difficult decision to try psychotropic medications. His explosions continued.

We knew by experience that his time at this preschool was limited. FosterDad quickly found a place in the Pre-K class at the public school where he taught. My stomach was in knots. We were not solving the problem, just transferring the problem somewhere else. I knew in my heart it wasn’t the right thing to do. I needed to leave my job to stay home with my son.

Then, while at work on the morning of November 10, 2011, I was silently crying and praying when I received an email from one of God’s messengers.

A person from Human Resources had written to ask me if the time I had taken off the week before was FMLA. What?!

My fingers raced to place a call.

“Didn’t I use up all my FMLA hours?”

“No?” I was still eligible for over 100 hours of FMLA that didn’t expire until the end of January!

I was overwhelmed by God’s hand on me that morning.

My Facebook post that day read: “When feeling down and confused, blessings from above can make you soar above the clouds! Thank you, Lord, for your unexpected blessings!”

I never shared that with you since we were busy with Adoption Day preparations and trying to decide whether to add Lil Bit’s newborn sibling to our family.

I enrolled him in the half-day Pre-K at the local elementary school, and began picking him up for lunch every day.

JD was excited about going to “big school” where the neighborhood kids attend.

FosterDad began full-time family leave in February, and goes back to school today – for one month until school is out – then he retires June 1st!

Not that our son hasn’t had a couple meltdowns at the new school. (Fortunately, public schools can’t kick kids out for bad behavior) But he has adjusted and is doing much better.

Our son even won an award at school! Okay, full disclosure, it was a perfect attendance award, but we are proud of him, nonetheless.

I’ve reapplied for FMLA for the month of May – So today, I’m excited to begin my time off with my little boy! There’s nothing like Mommy and Me time!!!

I’m Clever

Sway