Biology of Behavior Week 3

Schnickelfritz and I have tackled our six pills a day for the last week and now I fear comes the hardest (for me that is) week of all--cutting back on sugar.     I'm the one that has a secret stash of chocolate.   I'm the one that will have to come up with an alternative to the easy bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast.  I'll be making Sue Gregg's blender batter pancakes and scrambled eggs.   As for Fritz, we have already recognized that sugar can really rev up his motor.  Sometimes we can almost recognize the instant and will say "Oh, the sugar kicked in."   He is only allowed root beer on rare and special occasions and we never drink soda at home.   We don't Trick or Treat or fill Easter baskets with candy.  On occasion a kind neighbor (who has diabetes) will  regift her sugary treats to Fritz, but we usually stick those in a cabinet and he never asks for them.  It's the end of January and I just threw out some gruesome Halloween treats.  One area we will have to work on is drinking water instead of lemonade or juice.  Perhaps I can dilute some our normal drinks to start with?   I may come up with a satisfying drink with lemon juice and a little stevia?   

 As far as behavior changes--I pulled out the workshop handout from Dianne Crafts Biology of Behavior.

Sensitive to loud noises -- The loudest noise right now is the buzzer at Upwards basketball.  Last week's practice and game were cancelled due to snow.  Fritz did say that the buzzer doesn't bother him as much during the game, perhaps because there's a lot of other noise going on to drown it out.  At practice he still resorts to putting his hands over his ears.

Touch --  The tags on his pajamas are still flipped to the outside.  He did have to wear a new karate uniform that I didn't find very soft and there was no complaining.  He has stopped pulling on loose strings in his socks.

Mood Swings/anger/irritablity --  I have seen some improvement here as well.  Fritz always takes discipline very hard and will often say things like "I'm the worst kid ever."  This even carries over to simple correction in school --how to form letters in penmanship or pointing out where a math problem went wrong.  His reactions have softened and he is beginning to understand that criticism of actions are separate from criticism of self.

Other physical characteristics--  Fritz is able to fall asleep much easier. 

Attention--Fritz  has been willing to sit and do some reading for himself.  I don't know if that is an improved ability to focus or just great reading material for a young boy (Hank the Cowdog and the Case of the Garbage Monsters from Outer Space).    He has taken initiative to make a new pitcher of lemonade when it's empty, something he has never done before but I guess he's watched me.

I've been pleased with the improvements I've seen and I can wait to get to the weeks where we add B vitamins and Essential Fatty Acids.