It is a well known fact that our house is cool. And we are not talking
cool as in the latest styles. We are
talking cool in G terms. As in “put on another sweater” or “grab a blanket” kind of cool.
So it should come as no surprise that we would have
lots and LOTS of blankets all around the house.
It was not until I was too lazy couldn't find my usual
blanket one evening that I noticed there were no other blankets around. Not a single one. Anywhere.
So I went looking.
I found this…
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| Riley's bed. Can you say "HOARDER"?? |
That’s right…7
blankets. AND Riley does not just throw them in a pile on his bed. Oh no. He will carefully spread each individual blanket out so there
are no visible lumps or bumps. Why yes the letters OCD do pop into my
head.
Now some individuals with autism may also have
Sensory Processing (sometimes called sensory integration) challenges. You may
hear of children who respond well to deep pressure or who enjoy a weighted vest/blanket, the weight of sofa cushions or even another person’s body on top of
them. When Riley was younger he tried a weighted vest. He used it for a while
but he seemed to prefer deep pressure touch/massage.
But like a lot of things in Riley World I thought
perhaps things had changed over the years and maybe he now liked the feeling of
weight (the 7 missing blankets) on his body.
And then one
night I found him like this…
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| SO not thrilled that I woke him up. Eeep. |
Soooo...apparently Riley IS a HOARDER and I do NOT have to
purchase a weighted blanket for him. There is also the possibility that he has been reenacting The Princess and the Pea for the past year?!? Although I have no doubt that Riley would pass the royal test for physical sensitivity with flying colours, perhaps I should place a pea under his mattress just in case he should be included in the line of succession. ;)
Well...at least they are tidy! :). Our youngest likes to layer his bed with blankets, too, but more in a spirit of if it's on my bed, no one else can use it.
ReplyDeleteUnrelated ly, what are the pictures on the floor next to his bed?
So you can relate. :) And oh heavens...we are not allowed to touch let alone use them and heaven forbid we go in and sit on the bed. You can see him getting all stressed and then he jumps up as soon as we leave to straighten everything out again. Oi-vay.
DeleteR likes to print out screen shots of his favourite movies. The ones in the pic are from Frosty the Snowman. It's a year round movie don't ya know. ;)
oh my two girls have so many blankets in their beds too. and then of course I come in the night to check on them -- all the blankets are tossed aside and they are curled up tight trying to get that one baby blanket with the ribbon trim to stretch over their entire bodies. *eyeroll*
ReplyDeletebut they won't give any of them up. not one.
which is not a bad thing because those Disney princess ones are expensive!
That sounds exactly like R! He was all scrunched up and looked like he was freezing some nights. Of course he balked at the suggestion that he go under more blankets or at least one of the thicker ones. Oi-vay.
DeleteBwahahaha!!! Maybe he wants options? Come 3am, who KNOWS how cold it will be... K insists on 3 blankets, even though the house doesn't get below 70. I was thinking they had another thing in common. ;) And, BTW, that 70 degrees would be WITHOUT a heater. Don't hate. :P
ReplyDeleteOur house is barely 70 degrees WITH the heat on! Ergo lots and LOTS of blankets around the house. Well...at least there used to be. ;)
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