After my son calmed down he came out, turned off the fridge and sat down to his dinner. My husband had left to drop my middle-son off to watch his high school football team play. I was half-asleep on the couch in front of the t.v.
The television was tuned to Access Hollywood. Colin got up without saying a word and started to change the channel. Much to my amazement he chose to watch Washington Week with Gwen Ifill. The discussion centered around Syria. I was surprised to see my son engaged and making some interesting commentary.
When the program was over, he excused himself and went to his "room" to relax. When I went to check on my child a little while later, I found him in the dark, leaning over the bathroom counter watching a video on his I-pod. I thought this was banned until he tried Neurofeedback. Colin explained that Dad let him have it back as a reward. I decided to give him a break.
I let an hour pass and checked again. My son was still in the dark, hunched over his device. I decided this was enough and took the I-Pod away. He was not happy. Shortly afterwards my husband came home and I got the real story. The I-Pod was not a reward, it was to be used for a school project and nothing else. Tired and frustrated, our son went to sleep early.
Around 1:00 in the morning, I heard Colin rustling around a bit. I was not concerned but hubs came down. He turned on the light to see what was going on. This set off a 30-45 minute screaming rage. I sent Dad back to bed and our son finally calmed down. A short while later, I heard the opening and closing of drawers and then the sound of the electric toothbrush. By the time our son was settled, it was just before 2:00 a.m. when the quiet was pierced by a series of beeps. This is the magic time our Sharp Atomic Clocks readjust. That damn beeping prompting a series of pleas to "Stop it!".
We have got to get that fixed!
Saturday
The morning and early afternoon were peaceful, until our next door neighbor started to mow his lawn. The rages were on again. My husband and son engaged in a battle of "the door". My son was on one side, pushing to keep it shut and my husband on the other side, pushing to open it.
Sadly we had a casualty: the wall across the hall from the door.
In an effort to keep the door closed, my son had pushed with a burst of strength and took his dad by surprise. My husband's foot slipped backwards and his heel smashed a tennis ball sized hole into the drywall.
I had enough and left on a mission. I went to visit some local hardware stores to find a fix. One of my crazy ideas was to buy a small tool-shed that we could assemble in the basement and add some insulation to make a quiet room. I gathered up some information at Menard's and then went on to Lowe's.
I spoke to the manager of the lumber section and explained our situation. As luck would have it, he had helped sound-proof rooms for family members and helped make a "Sunshine" room (quiet bedroom) for an autistic niece. We discussed some ideas and he suggested rather than hastily buy materials, I should bring my husband in.
Meanwhile back at the house, shortly after I had left for my mission, the lawn crew arrived at the house on the other side. This was the source of the six hour rage last week. Hubs and son barely made it to the car when the big machines were started. They drove to a nearby school parking lot to wait it out. It was not fun for either of them.
I was able to coax my husband to go back to Lowe's tonight where he was able to meet with the lumber manager. We have a better idea of how to tackle a safe room in the basement and have decided to make this our priority.
It will not be quick or simple. But nothing is these days.
We are a work-in-progress.
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