aworthen

----- Original Message -----
From: Susan (mother to 5 in Fla) <samiot@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2000 9:10 AM
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] RE: Food Issues ~ different problem is this a
matter of wills too?

Or is this all normal
> behavior for a boy?

Sounds to me like it's normal behavior for a four year old. I've got a 4 yog
who gets into mischief too.
Amy
Mom to Samantha, Dana, and Casey

[email protected]

In a message dated 8/30/2000 1:14:55 PM, samiot@... writes:

<<It's really strange, he is really such a sweet child most of the time but
there are times (weeks in between thank goodness), without warning that a
switch flips & he's a nightmare. Most of these times he'll start screaming
& you can't communicate with him at all. Then the experience ends without
any causal connection & it's like it never happened. >>

Hi,

All I can suggest is that you keep looking hard for a causal factor. It may
take long-term observation. Some food allergies can really make kids lose
control. Otherwise, maybe an extreme sensitivity to texture, light, or
sound? I think it's helpful to get a notebook and write down details of each
incident. Maybe make a chart that shows how often problems occur and at what
time of day?

If if would make you feel more empowered to be able to "do" something, then
pro-actively following a Feingold diet, or a food elimination plan, or just
buying healthfood with fewer additives for awhile might be worthwhile.

In younger kids, tantrums are a fairly normal response to the "last straw" of
stress. It could just be that.

Good luck! Betsy

LisaKK

>
>Has anyone else encountered anything like this? anyone survived anything
>like this? Sorry for the depressing note but I need help before I ship him
>off to the military or the French Foreign Legion. Or is this all normal
>behavior for a boy? Help please.

If you promise not to tell anyone, I'll tell you a secret. *I* was this
child. Might still be, but at 40 I'm much better at hiding it. Not only
did I survive, I'm thriving. My parents, sorry to say, are
institutionalized. One choose religion and ther other chose the mental
health care system. You can't believe half the stories they tell though.
They get everything wrong.

I also gave birth to your child's sister. At 3 she took the scissors to her
hair not once, not twice, but 3 seperate times! My dh ended all of that by
taking her to the barber when he took our boys. Unbeknownst to me he
decided she needed a buzz cut, and so she got one. You should have seen the
4 of them with their skinned eggheads. Everyone thought she must have had
some awful health problem, like a brain tumor or something, since all of her
hair was gone.

Breathe...breathe so deeply you almost hyperventilate. When I get back form
karate I'll tell you some more stories. <VBG>

LisaKK

Susan (mother to 5 in Fla)

LisaKK

Thank you for your story. I'm beginning to feel more normal with each note
I receive. Thinking back I think I was into similar stuff as a child. I
guess I'd forgotten.