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Does Ryan have encopresis?

I don’t know, I think so. I googled and found lots of info. But one thing that struck me is that most kids have no control over the accidents. I think Ryan does. He is so good not to have accidents while at school or when we are away from home. But here, it’s like he just lets go. Sometimes the accidents occur every hour! Sometimes we are lucky to go 2+ hours. He doesn’t do it at night and doesn’t have urinary accidents.

But looking at his diet screams constipation. His main source of calories is chocolate milk. He eats no fruits nor vegetables and will only drink juice boxes at school. But WebMD did say there might not be a correlation between diet and constipation. And I do know that when we took him off of milk when he was younger, his stools were very soft and unformed. They became “normal” when he went back to milk.

And I worry about him pooping in his pants so much. And sometimes he tells me things feel weird but he can’t explain. He hates the idea of going to the doctor. I don’t blame him. I can’t imagine trying to give him laxatives daily or god forbid an enema!

I wrote the first part of this a month ago. Since then, I have found Miralax in the store and started giving some to Ryan everyday. I think it has helped to clean out all the old stuff in his gut. He knows I put it in his milk but doesn’t mind so much. I still do it when he isn’t watching.

Now we have to go through the period when Ryan’s colon shrinks back down and he gets the sensations back. Only 3 weeks left until school starts, it would be nice to have it controlled by then but I am not expecting it. I think Ryan learned to hold his bowels years ago and it’s going to take a while to reverse it all.

But I am much more relaxed about the whole ordeal. I know it’s not his stubborn nature that is causing problems.

After a week hiatus from the wii, the boys are back playing it. Ryan got mad at Andy for playing on my profile in MaterNational. Ryan was worried that Andy would catch up to his level. Not a chance but Ryan didn’t see it that way. Ryan got upset, Andy got upset, I got upset. I told Ryan he had to apologize to Andy or not play the next day. He would rather not play. He then said he wouldn’t play for 3 weeks. (Why he adds on to what I say to make it even worse is beyond me.)

But Ryan only lasted for a week. Funny, Andy never asked to play. He doesn’t ask to play. He waits for Ryan to play and use up his allotted time then takes his turn. But if Ryan gets upset, Andy will forfeit his turn.

Meanwhile, the wii chips continue to stack up. The boys get one for brushing their teeth, helping out around the house etc. Each chip is worth 15 minutes of wii play. I was hoping that they would want to earn even more time and I had other incentives like Ryan working on his cursive handwriting and Andy keeping his clothes on in the house. (He is not completely naked but he is getting too bug to walk around in his boxer briefs.) But they don’t seem to care. Ryan will only use 4 chip each day at the most. Andy doesn’t use his chips at all. Probably because Ryan feels the wii should be turned off at 6 pm. And he doesn’t start playing until after 4 pm. By the time Andy gets his turn, he is lucky to finish his hour before Ryan feels the need to turn it off. I have told Andy he can continue to play but he won’t. Poor kid, I wish he would learn to stand up to that tyrant.

Ryan did venture to try another game this week, actually two! Super Mario Galaxy and EA Playground. He has the guide to SMG and will pause the game to consult the book. He gets so easily frustrated and claims he will never play again because he can’t win. I have learned to sympathy a little but mostly ignore him. After a few minutes of whining, he is back trying again.

And uninspired. At least as far as writing this blog. I have ideas, I even have 5 drafts started and saved, but nothing seems like a good idea.

Excuses. Add to that, the fact that Ryan thinks this computer is his. Occasionally he will go use his own, but mostly he uses the laptop. And sitting in my comfy chair with my laptop is where I like to blog. I try to keep the desktop computer for “work.”

Boring and mundane. It’s summer and we have out routine. I think I’ve already mentioned all of it so what is left to say?

I’ll try again tomorrow.

It was through Madge that I heard some of the sounds from the soundtrack to Wicked! I really liked “popular” and “loathing” so I got the soundtrack for myself. I made a cd and put it in my car, it was playing one day when we went to the pool. It’s been the soundtrack to our summer. One of the problems with iTunes, is that “purchased music” doesn’t always download in album order. And I didn’t pay attention when I burned the CD. On a regular, this would be a problem but with a soundtrack, especially for a play we haven’t seen, the order is jumbled and makes no sense.

I ordered the book so I could figure out the story but soon realized that the play doesn’t not quite follow the book. OK, it really doesn’t follow it all. I finally had to google for a synopsis so I could figure out the play as compared to the novel. I was surprised and a bit disappointed to find that Elphaba does not die in the play. But I had only read about 2/3 of the book at that point and figured she still had time to turn Wicked! She never did become evil, a bit manic and mad but I would be hard pressed to stay sober and rational if I knew a little girl with magic shoes had been sent to kill me.

I wish the book would have cleared up a few other things like who is/was Yackle. But perhaps Son of a Witch will had the answer.

Last year we were in the mall and we stopped into GameStop. We were looking for a replacement Sonic Heroes for the GameCube. They didn’t have one. Since the Wii came out, they are making fewer games for the GameCube. Ryan wanted Super Paper Mario but it was only for the Wii. The salesperson said he had one in stock. Huh? Umm… well, I was going to wait but then… OK, let’s buy it!

I had intended it to be for Christmas but maybe it would be a good incentive for Ryan to poop on the potty. It didn’t work. I kept hoping as he kept trying. Now, almost a year later, I know his “accidents” truly are accidents and he has little control over his bowels. So I decided to get the Wii out, Christmas in July.

We set it up yesterday. Ryan started with Super Paper Mario. He has read the guide for months and thought he knew how to get through the whole game. But it’s not as easy as reading. He played for over an hour and I made him let Andy have a turn. Ryan didn’t want Andy to play SPM, so we got MaterNational. Since then, we haven’t changed the game.

They even let me play a few times. I just got done playing for about an hour. Oh my hands are sore and the right one was numb from holding the game controller too tightly. It is harder than it looks but then again, I think the boys enjoys crashing into saguaros and other cars. As I type, Ryan is chasing Filmore and running into him. Do they still have demolition derbies.