Taylor’s New Obsession
Like all children, Taylor tends to get fixated on certain things. But, unlike other children, sometimes Taylor’s fixations end up bordering on obsession.
Mostly, these “obsessions” are harmless. A couple of years ago it was twirling strings/cords on the ground. Then, it was twirling her hair. A couple of months ago she was into playing with her belly button.
Now, her obsession is ripping. Ripping paper and cardboard to be exact. Into little pieces and throwing the pieces on the floor. Then picking up the pieces and ripping them into smaller pieces.
You get the picture, right?
Our family has affectionately (heh) named her new game “Rippy Bits”.
Rippy Bits is played constantly.
And I am going nutters.
I clean up paper and cardboard All. Day. Long.
You should have seen my house at Christmas…I thought I would never get it clean.
All the wrapping paper and boxes…it was like, well, Christmas for her.
Nothing is safe here anymore. I have to watch everything. She’s getting so tall now…she can reach a lot higher than she used to!
What’s just as frustrating as the cleaning is the tantrums. If she can’t rip what she wants to, when she wants to, she throws a fit.
So it’s either let her rip her paper and deal with the mess, or deny her and have her throw a fit.
Oh, the joys of autism.
One time Austin got 30 bucks from a grandma. Matty had it shredded in little pieces under his bed by the next morning. We know that phase a little too well!!
I am dealing with the same thing with my son – he’s four and has Fragile X Syndrome. Church, home, the mall, school, in the bathroom….. rip, rip, rip.
Yeah, we’re not into ripping (Which sounds totally awesome, by the way! Ahem.), but my guy’s Lego obsession leads to a lot of tiny bits all over the house. And they hurt when you step on them.