Liam, baby bear Poolie and I are lying here side by side in my bed—I’m blogging and Liam is watching Baby Frazzle with Franklin on next. He hurt his back earlier because he lost his balance on the dining room chair and fell. It took my husband Karl about 20 minutes to settle him down, no easy task because all Liam wanted to do was physically lash out. Liam seemed to calm down but once let go, ran towards me with the intention to head butt. It doesn’t take me too long to realize what he’s about to do so I am able to head him off at the pass but I have to be fast.

My husband is really much better than I am at handling Liam during his fits because he is firmer with Liam. Whereas I tend to coddle him, Karl intentionally raises his voice so that Liam knows he means business. There is a trick to handling Liam during one of his meltdowns—act angry without really being angry. Here’s the thing—Liam can tell when you’re losing it and this can work to our disadvantage. Liam can step up the action ten-fold if he sees weakness on our part and that can take even longer for us to calm him down.

Liam had a rough day at his therapy-based day camp. His instructional therapist told me he had many behaviours and was set off by the squealing and crying of the other kids. This is nothing new—he can’t handle anyone else’s behaviours but they sure have to put with his. His therapist looked a little tired and I find myself thanking the Lord for such caring people in his life. You definitely have to find these kids pretty cute in order to make a living helping them. We have had very few professionals in Liam’s life that haven’t fallen in love with him, behaviours and all. The worker that took Liam on his camping trip last week couldn’t wait to tell me some of the cute things he said and did. She got this little twinkle in her eye and I could just tell how much she adores him. I am always so comforted to see that twinkle because it means that he is being looked after and more importantly, loved.