Its been about six weeks since we last talked about Rowan and Melatonin. Mellow Rowan, we sometimes call it. And it checks out. Melatonin was the first stepping stone in helping Rowan get a bit more grounded. Magnesium was next. And now, we have him taking probiotics, vitamin D, and Omega 3s. It sounds like a lot, but he is so happy with his “special” vitamins, and he takes them willingly and easily.
Something I’ve witnessed as time has gone by is that Rowan is able to put in more effort. He is more patient with tasks, his siblings, and himself. The days aren’t perfect, but they are easier than they were. He never cared to do longer, more invested activities, but he does now 🙂 He plays in a different way! Its exciting to watch!
He gives himself a bit more grace, too, when he doesn’t get something quite perfect. That used to result in agony, and it made us very hesitant to suggest anything even remotely challenging. But we can now 🙂
Something that is notable as a challenge is his relationship with Laela. Those two are SO similar, and they fight like it 😆 We’ve been struggling with finding the balance between letting them work their stuff out, and how much to interfere. We’ve gone the direction of encouraging them to have intentional time together rather than punishment after punishment. This has taken the form of reading together, jumping on the trampoline together, and doing puzzles together. Just the other day, they fought hard, and had to eat together in the dining room rather than outside with the rest of us. When I went in to check on them, they were giggling and playing. They informed me they had decided to do another puzzle together. So, its not all better, but I think its working.
While we’ve seen so much positive change, I do believe we will still need to seek some additional help for him. My beautiful son is being so clear, and expressing to us how much he is struggling with anger. I don’t want him to have to work SO HARD to stay afloat already at SUCH a young age, so I will be calling his doctor soon to see if we can all have a chat. I’d love him to talk to her about how he’s feeling and see what she says. Her medical advice is the best I’ve ever known, but I trust her as a fellow mom, as well.
I love you dearly, my Rowan. You are doing AMAZINGLY well at managing your struggles. You are such a soft, sweet, caring boy, to your friends and your family. We are SO grateful to have you in our family!!!
Oh yes, my darling Rowan. I’ve been watching your fabulous efforts over the last year. You are so good at communicating. So wonderful at encouraging others. So good at trying to manage that anger. (I used to struggle a lot with anger too. God helped me through that time, for sure. Now I don’t even want to be angry. It’s so great) You are so preciously sweet. I love it when you pray for me….. your “sweet little grandma”. I love being loved by you. I love you so much, honey bun. You just keep talking to God. God and you make a great team! I love you Rowan. I’m so glad you’re my grandson.
This is SUCH a sweet comment! I hope he reads it in the books someday!! I love you, mom!