Moving Autism Chapter 2

Okay, so starting up where I left off yesterday....how ugly it got. Well, you know you look the morning after the stomach virus, all pasty with dark circles under your eyes and hair stuck together with vomit? Uglier than that. But I have to say initially, it wasn't that bad because another angel in our lives, "Aunt Jackie" volunteered to watch all 3, yes I said all 3, girls for the first two nights so we could get the house in some sort of order before the kids got there. Well, if you know Cams or if you have been following the blog then you know that Camryn has never had a successful sleepover, and by that I mean, there has never been any sleep involoved. But, because Jackie is amazing or insane, the line is very thin when it comes to these things, she threw caution to the wind and said bring Cams over, we'll make it work. And if you know me at all, then you know that's all I needed to hear before I stuffed a weeks worth of pullups and meds into a backpack and drove the crew over, because really, if someone is offering to watch the kids so Brad and I can have a moment to ourselves, even if it will be spent unloading a Uhaul, then I hope they really mean it because I am so saying "Absolutely!!"
 I dropped them off, thinking I would probably be back to pick up Cams around 11:00 that night because I have never known her to sleep anywhere but her room. But even 11:00 was a nice break. Brad and I unpacked and even went out for a bite to eat. I called Jackie around 10:00 to check on the kids and was beyond shocked to hear that Cams was asleep!! She had fallen out about 30 minutes before and it seemed like she was out for the night. I could not believe it!! This had never happened and in fact had always upset me that she didn't sleep other places because taking a trip with her was off limits. But now for some reason, she had done it and I couldn't have been more pleased. Of course Jackie had to sleep with her, because Cams does wake up several times at night, but Jackie would just tell her to lay back down and she did. I was so thrilled!!!
By the time the kids returned Tuesday the house was liveable but still resembled a warzone. Oh and we didn't have any cable yet, need I say more? With Mason and Natalie, I was able to explain that I was trying to put things away and that I needed them to go in their room and go through boxes, find their things and put them away the best they could. There were whines and rolling eyes, but they did what they were told. Now Cam-a-rama however, was another story. At 7 years old, almost 4 feet tall  and 71 pounds, the wooden babygate that used to keep her contained may as well be a piece of cardboard. I didn't yet know she could move it and put her in her room with some things to amuse her...a few dog bones, a plastic bowl and spoon, a ziploc baggie and some river rocks, Cam "toys". I latched the gate and walked off to the piles of boxes waiting to be opened. I had no sooner ripped into the first one when Camryn appears, gate in her hand, saying"Did you break your gate honey?"  Which is Cam-ish for " This thing ain't holding me back anymore!" I thought, you have got to be kidding me. Lord, please, all I want to do is unpack. I really don't feel like I am asking alot here. I took Cams by the hand, walked back into her room, sat her down on the floor, gave her a magnadoodle and told her to draw. I then latched the gate and resumed my unpacking. I heard a thud, but paid it no mind as Cams routinely throws things over her gate, which is why we refer to any object given to Camryn that is bigger than six inches and weighs more than five pounds "Weapons of Mass Destruction". Yep, George Jr was way off course. They were with Cam the whole time, who knew? So anyway, I figured that it was just a large book that had been pitched out. But then, I heard feet pounding on the wood floor and sure enough there she was again, gate in hand, saying "Did you break your gate honey?" But meaning, "Look woman, what aren't you understanding? This thing?? Not working anymore! I will not be caged!!!"
I somehow remained calm, but was pulling a total Gordon Ramsay( you know, the Hell's Kitchen guy) in my head. This is not going to work. Ok, I'll just have Cams sit with me while I put things away. She spent the night and she had never done that before, so was it such a pipe dream to think that she could sit here and "help" me put things away? Well yes, turns out it was. Cams is a lot like a toddler so while I was putting things away, she was taking them and putting them somewhere else. And when she wasn't doing that, she was swinging open the refrigerator door, grabbing the very breakable pickle jar and carrying it through the house as I chased after her. I would give her a pickle and she would stand right on the new rug and chomp it while pickle juice dripped down her chin, her hands and you guessed it onto the new rug. Uuuggghh!! In desperate times like these, I like to turn to a little parenting trick that I have found can work very well or not so much. Bribery, and I was just crossing everything that it would go well. "Mason!!! Would you please play with Cams in her room and I'll pay you a dollar?" Of course she was not happy about having to put her life on the line for chump change, so she bargained with me for two dollars and an extra 30 mintues before bed. Fine, so I put Cams in her room, replaced the gate hoping she wouldn't mess with it if Mace was in the room with her and told Mace to be careful.
I decided to start a load of laundry while I was cleaning, you know the whole two birds with one stone thing, but just as I was pouring the detergent, I was stopped dead in my tracks by a piercing howl. And I knew exactly what it was. Cams had hurt Mason, which is how the bribery thing can go bad. She came screaming and crying out of the room, cradling a badly scratched arm and professing her undying hatred for Camryn and her Autism. I embraced Mason with one arm and grabbed Camryn with the other, forcing her to sit on the floor in time out for hurting. As upset as Mason was about her injury, she wanted to make sure she still got her two dollars and 30 minutes which of course she did. I even threw in a popsicle for Workmans Comp kid style. Cams was sitting on the floor, "growling" saying "Say you're sorry for pinching" and screaming, biting her own arm and hitting herself on the head. Meanwhile Natalie was in her room, not putting things away, but setting up a play land for her stuffed animals. So there we were, Mason on the whimpering about her arm, me sitting next to her telling her how sorry I was and that Cams loves her and doesn't mean to hurt, Camryn on the floor, screaming and attacking herself and Nat off in a world of her own, which officially made her the smartest one of us all. Needless to say, the house looked worse that evening than it had when I started and I was exhausted. How was I going to get this place in order with all this craziness going on? Well, as luck would have it, a friend of my mom's daughter was home from college for the summer and needed a job and had watched my kids once about 4 years ago, so.......... the very next morning, I made a desperate phone call eerily similar to the one I made to Ms. Mills the week prior, and pretty much begged her to come over and help me. You know the saying "It takes a village to raise a child?" Well it takes a small country to raise Camryn! Thank God she was available and actually in need of work, so she came right over and took Camryn out for the day! I really am so blessed to have these people in our lives."Miss Amy" took Cams to the pier, rode the trolley downtown, went to McDonalds and had a great time. Miss Amy made some money, Camryn had a fun day, and Mason and Natalie and I got a lot done in the house and went shopping. By the time I picked up Camryn, it was time for bed. I bathed her, brushed her teeth and put her to bed. As I walked out of her room, I closed the door and latched the gate once again, knowing this time it would stay in place, at least until 6:00 in the morning.