Feeling long in the tail

Yo, Mick here.

Sorry, I've got an itch where the sun don't shine - just beside my tail.

Speaking of tails, I’ve had a bit of tail draggin’ times of late. Awhile back I got some sort of skin malady that now has me on multiple meds and I have to get a bath every-other day. I know what Red goes through with having to take meds and showers daily.

Its no woofin’ fun!

Mum or Red has to toss the pills down the back of my throat and massage my neck to get me to swallow them.

I can be rather sneaky though. Sometimes I can even cough them back up when they’re not watching but they always catch me and I get into trouble.

My boy Red did something bad a week ago. He lied about taking his meds to Mum so now he’s grounded for 2 whole weeks.

That really sucks.

If he’s not having fun, neither am I.

Last Thursday, Red said it best. He told Mum our home was like a cemetery. Yup. That’s about the truth of it. No TV, no computer, no wii, no nothing.

Red not only lied about taking his pills, when Mum went to deliver them to his school, he pitched a major fit. It was only going to be for a week but then he got really lippy to Mum so she grounded him for 2 weeks!

On the way back to class he even shoved some poor chump that made the mistake of asking him what was wrong.

Lucky for Red Mum didn’t see him shove the other kid or he’d have gotten a month of being grounded!

Well, Red’s been extra good and has even done extra chores so Mum is letting him earn back some of his time. With luck he’ll be all finished in a couple of days.

You know, taking pills every day really sucks but then again, I am starting to feel a whole lot better.

Red, I’ve noticed behaves a lot better when he’s on his meds too. Like me, he’s less prickly. I doubt he’d have shoved that boy if his meds had been in his system.

Even with me, Red’s a lot calmer and more gentle when he’s had his meds.

I get that Red just wants to be a regular kid.

He thinks that having to take medication makes him different when just the opposite is true. His behavior is quite off the regular charts when he doesn’t take his meds.

Taking meds daily makes Red feel like he’s not like the other kids.

I keep trying to explain that all kids have some sort of challenge and there isn’t a normal one in the bunch. Humans are a unique breed unto themselves, that’s for certain.

It's like they're all mutts!

Red is just socially aware enough to know he’s not like the others and young enough that it matters to him.

Maybe that's one of the down sides to his autism improving?

I’ll be glad when we both get over the tail droop days. I'm no good at the droop. Red on the other hand is handling himself rather well - he's like a kid shoveling poop looking for a pony. He knows if he's super good, Mum will lift his sentence.

Mine too is improving.

Tail Thum.