Part 96 ~ The Adventures of King Ben & Zeus the Big Dumb Dog

If you missed the start of this series, you can find it here. A lot of things will be the same or very similar.

We left off yesterday with me in a snit, Ben being a Bootyhead and uncertainty about how the rest of the night would go.

I got Ben in the tub and I was determined to wash his hair and get all the tangles out. His hair is waist-long, thick and wavy. Beautiful, but very difficult to care for. I went after the tangles after I had smothered it in conditioner. I got about 90% of the tangles while wrestling the slippery octopus that Ben had morphed into. He wound up pulling the plug before I could get all the tangles, so in his robe on the couch, I finished… or mostly finished. I got about 8% more, got it braided and called it good enough. He was grumpy, my arms were rubbery and tired… we were both done.

Daughter had wanted to do Family Movie Night and I told her it might be better to wait, but no one listens. Needless to say, Ben wasn’t feeling especially cooperative, plus it was past the time he’d been used to having meds and bed because Daughter wanted to push that back to coincide with her new work schedule. Things got ugly… not meltdown bad, but Ben outside in tears and Daughter in her room in tears and me left to fix everything, which of course, I did.

To wrap it up, Ben had meds at 6:20 and went to bed at 7:00, Daughter tucked him in, then went back to her room. I tried to get my chill back and waited for sunset.

Pretty, but no clouds for extra drama. Still, I felt better from watching it.

Daughter came to my room crying and wanting to talk. After a very winding route we got to the root of what she was feeling… she feels like she’s being punished for being selfish. That taking the hospital job was selfish and Ben being sick, the I.T. problems at the hospital, Ben not immediately adjusting to the new schedule, everything is a sign that she was selfish and now she must pay. I talked to her…gave her some ideas about Ben, explained that on March 13th things were crazy for a while then we settled into a routine… same now. It’s just a change, not a punishment and it will take some time to form a new routine. She went to bed a little after 11pm. I went to bed a little while later.

The Bounce occurred at 5:00am. I told Ben to go get his Mama when he started telling me to go to the living room. He said “Gramma! Pweeze Pweeze PWEEZE!!” He doesn’t usually have trouble with his “L”s so I don’t know what that was all about, but who could resist such a heartfelt cry? Such a dramatic manipulation? I got up and went, I had my Pain Doc appointment today at 8:30 anyway, let Daughter get more rest. Off to the living room and the start of another day at Casa Cuckoo.

We just hung out on the couch, him with his tablet, water and some Goldfish crackers… me with my phone and coffee. At 6:30 Ben had meds and I uncovered Sven and turned his lights on

“See? I’m alive. Go away!”

Then back to the couch. Daughter got up at 7:15 and took over Living Room Duty.

I got ready and left at 8am for my 8:30 appointment. I needed to get gas for the car for the first time in probably two months. I really don’t remember the last time I put gas in the car.

The appointment went fine. I forgot to ask what my BP was cuz the nurse and I were chatting. The scale I could read for myself. 189 pounds. Very good. I’m gonna have to watch it, make sure I make myself eat. I’m pretty sure I’ve written before that I like to keep my weight in the 190-200 pound range. I’m sure most women wouldn’t like that number, but most women are not six feet tall with a curvy build. Anyway, I got my pump filled (is it just my dirty mind or does “Pump Fill” seem risqué?), got my prescriptions for the morphine tablets and Restoril for sleep and headed home.

Daughter and Ben had done fine while I was gone, which is good. I was home before 10:00, so… less than two hours. Still… it’s a start. I went to my room for some Horizontal Time. Ben came in for a few minutes then went back to the living room. He came back at 11:15 or so and started with the “You have to get dressed. You have to go to the store” thing… pink cupcakes. Jiminey Cricket On A Motorscooter! This wasn’t the first request for pink cupcakes, but dang child! Really? Again? He went and tipped the wood away from the broken gate, he knocked the jackets down… he repeated those words, over and over and over.

I put my mask on, put my shoes on, grabbed my wallet and went to the freakin grocery store in search of pink freakin cupcakes. I told him before I left that I would get cookies if they didnt didn’t have cupcakes. (Vons has a bakery and they almost always have pink frosted cookies packaged up and available.)

I took the picture to send to Daughter to see if she wanted me to get both or just the cookies… she told me to get both.

I picked up some more steak for Ben and wine for Daughter while I was there. They’re rearranging the store… I’m glad I noticed today when it wasn’t busy and I didn’t have a long list. Anyway, I brought the stuff home and Ben said “Thank you, Gramma.” and licked the frosting off one cupcake and a couple cookies. Why didn’t I just get pink frosting??? Robyn… Gary… anyone else who knows an autistic child… would pink frosting work? I’m guessing they say “No.”

At 12:45 Daughter went to her room to charge her laptop. Ben was in my room and I was waiting for the command to relocate, but he was content with his pink baked goods…

At 2:00 he decided it was time to relocate. That was fine, it was time to do his meds anyway. I was thinking about holding those until later since we’re pushing his night meds to 6:15-6:30, but the afternoons are harder and other than the half Adderall at noon, the previous meds he takes is at 10:30am. 2:30 would be four hours, but he also metabolizes really fast. I think there’s a consult with his med doctor tomorrow morning, we’ll see what she thinks. The fact that he can swallow pills opens up our options.

Anyway, we moved to the living room. Daughter had turned the AC unit on so the room would be cool. It gets a LOT of afternoon sun so it does heat up and Ben, like me, gets cranky when he’s hot, even though he doesn’t seem to realize when he’s too warm. He sat down and dumped his chalk bucket and started doing the Thang.

Ben’s latest creation

At 3:00 he got up on the couch with his tablet. I looked over a few minutes later and his eyes were closed. I tried to wake him up but he didn’t want to wake. I got him to partially sit up and I went to Daughter’s room to see if she wanted to let him sleep. She said “let him doze” Okay, lady… you’re the boss, you handle it. I went back to my room and left Ben dozing on the couch in a reclining position.

Ben is still sleeping. I’m guessing that Daughter will cook him some steak and wake him up pretty soon. It’s up to her. She’s the one who’ll have to stay up until midnight with him if that’s how late he stays up. I’m not going to worry about it. He has clean PJs, he can have a wipes bath… call it a Free Pass Night or whatever. I’m going to take care of ME and let her take care of him. Yeah… I’ll let you know tomorrow how that worked out.

Tonight’s song is just another random song that I like. I hope you like it too.

Thank you for coming by and hanging out at Casa Cuckoo today. We’re coming up on number ONE HUNDRED. Any ideas about what we can do to celebrate? You are as much a part of our adventures as Ben, Zeus and Sven. I’d love to know what kind of adventure you’d like to have. Think about it and let me know… but hurry, there are only a couple of days left. ¡Hasta mañana!

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HUGS!

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