Feeding Therapy, Day 1: This is not going to be easy

This is a blog post that I feel I need to write for myself; I need to get a few things out. I'm guessing few people will read it in its entirety; and I may even decide to take it down 2 hours after I put it up. But we'll see...

I will start with some background. Three years ago, we started to see a change in Moses' eating patterns. He was two, and he started rejecting certain foods that he had liked in the past. We talked to our family doctor and the pediatrician, both of whom told us not to worry about it and that it was a phase toddlers go through. They said that about the time he turned three, he would start expanding his foods again.

I also noticed other quirks. He seemed to have this extra-sensory perception that I couldn't quite figure out. Example: he liked one particular brand of chicken corn dog. It smelled and looked exactly like any other corn dog. But I could put a different corn dog down on his plate, and he wouldn't even touch it. The next day, I could put a chicken corn dog on his plate, and he would eat it. How did he know the one was an impostor, without even picking it up? But he knew.

So....He turned three, and he ate fewer foods.

He turned four, and he ate even fewer foods.

As of last fall, he would eat Banquet chicken tenders, raw vegetables, apples, bananas, grapes, peanut butter sandwiches, peanut butter on crackers, fish sticks, and sometimes pizza. But it had to be a certain brand of frozen pizza, and even then it was sketchy whether or not he would eat it.

Today, he no longer eats Banquet chicken tenders, fish sticks, pizza, or peanut butter sandwiches. He eats peanut butter crackers, raw vegetables, and fruit. (He also likes cookies, cake, etc., of course).

In the meantime, there was a person in his life that had been very much like a grandfather to him. We did not know it (we have only been in this community for 4 years), but this person is elderly and has a history of turning on people and becoming hostile toward them. He turned on Moses, directing hostility toward him (by shunning him completely). As an adult, I understand that people are fallen and, honestly, I have learned to pity this man. He is clearly miserable in his own life. But Moses doesn't understand. He developed signs of anxiety, his eating dropped off even more, and we got him in to see an incredible Christian counselor in the Peoria area. She said we needed to get him out of here. She also picked up on what I had been suspecting: Moses has some sensory issues (feeding and auditory).

At her suggestion, we were able to get Moses in to see an occupational therapist specializing in food issues. She has been observing Moses and consulting with us, and today we began implementing a food therapy plan. She also suggested that we get closer to a larger city, where Moses would benefit from music/art therapy to help him overcome some of his fears.

Yesterday she kept emphasizing, "This is going to be a long haul." As I sat at the table today trying to coax Moses to eat peanut butter crackers (something he used to eat willingly), it all began sinking in. When I look at his finger nails and realize that they are starting to get ridges because he isn't getting enough vitamins, I start to panic. So today I did something I thought I would never do to my child: I lied and used fear. I showed him a picture of a 5-year-old boy in a hospital hooked up to all sorts of wires. It was actually a boy injured in Libya, but I discussed with Moses that we are trying to work with him to help him see that there are more foods out there that he might like; but that if he doesn't let us help him, he will get sick and end up in a hospital. I told him that the little boy was sick because he hadn't been eating enough good foods.

Definitely not a parental high point. But he did start eating.

So, this is one of the reasons we know it is time to move. At the suggestion of the occupational therapist, we need to get him into a school district more equipped for special needs children (I have a hard time typing that), with half-day kindergarten, closer to the amenities he needs. We need to get him into a church setting with more kids and more music (his occupational therapist has picked up on the fact that he really expresses himself through music and art).

We've known for a year that we needed to do something for Moses, and suspected that moving was the best option. At least now we have a plan. And we are praying that God puts the pieces together quickly so that we can have a healthy little boy once again!