A good bit of my time goes as follows.
Oliver: Mama wanna sit down. *herding me to the living room and, after appropriate meditation, bringing me his tablet* Wanna watch kebbin aye bupette.
Me: Uh...*typing in Kevin Thomas Train as my best guess* Kevin's Cranky Friend?
Oliver: No!
Me: Kevin the Steamie?
Me: Okay. Here you go. *settling in for the duration and hoping I won't get thirsty or something before the chain of videos ends*
5 to 10 minutes later when the video ends, or, if he's really tense, after about 30 seconds of the video
Oliver: Wanna put the phone back?
Me: *canceling video and turning off tablet* Okay.
Oliver: Phone back!
Me: *trying a different inflection as it has to be exactly right* Okay.
We sometimes go back and forth like this several times. Then, he walks off, returns, and restarts the cycle.
This can go on for 2 1/2 hours. I've gotten a little better at bringing rations and something to do. If Josh is at home, one of us has to stay in place while the other can briefly leave to make dinner or go to the bathroom. This is what repetitive-restrictive behaviors look like. It's not a lack of discipline. It's what he needs to regulate his nervous system. Meltdowns (which result if we wander off or can't figure out the video) are not tantrums. They're more like seizures.
If the video cycling restarts every 30 seconds or fewer, it's literally impossible to do anything else. You can't read a poem. You can't write a full sentence. You can look at your work E-mail, but you can't do anything about it.
Reminder to self: Diesel's Ghostly Christmas is a two-part episode. The full show is not on YouTube. It is on Amazon Prime Video for free: Thomas the Tank Engine Season 19, Episodes 17 and 18. I just researched this for ten very stressful minutes.
And now, I need a nap. I've only been able to write this because he's watching several minutes of video at a time.
You are an amazing mother. You're patient, strong, kind, and loving.
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