Anyone else have a child prone to dramatics?

[ilovedogs]

Ok, so I'm a little off topic here but I have to vent. My ds isn't feeling well today and I'm guessing the upset stomach I've had the past few days must be an actual virus now. So, he gets so dramatic b/c of his health anxiety and OCD type stuff. He starts to cry and thinks he's going to die. He was trying to eat some toast and was doing some deep breathing exercises the whole time and I had just about had it with the drama. I finally told him to go to another room and watch tv and get some rest b/c I couldn't take it anymore. So, instead of being patient, loving mom I become angry impatient evil mom b/c I can't handle the drama. I understand him asking me to check his forehead but asking me to do it every 5 minutes and then giving me a play by play of his symptoms gets really old to me, really fast!

 

Now, to be fair, my dh can be a lot like this, but just without the anxiety part!!! Maybe it's a guy thing! I've been feeling crappy the past 2 days and I make a little comment about my stomach still feeling cruddy, etc. but I don't sit around gasping for air and moping about! Thanks for letting me vent!

 

Bonnie

[lurker]

Bonnie,

 

I'm voting for the "guy thing." I would rather deal with sick kids than a sick man. My husband is a nightmare. Just readjusting his position on the sofa requires a loud groan; anything requiring more effort than that sounds like natural childbirth! Oh, and he "needs" something about every 10 minutes -- water, tylenol, the phone, a DVD, soup, a phone number, a golf magazine, . . .

 

Remember that yours is a guy and a kid and then there is the anxiety; so he's a tripple threat. It has to be even worse when you're sick. I hope it runs its course soon.

[Chemar]

hah yup! guy thing for sure !!!!! (sorry guys )

 

lol lurker we must be married to the same guy

 

 

illness always brings out the drama in all my guys here, so I do also think there may be a neuro-immuno component to it as well that seems to trigger more of the mood/behavior stuff for them when any illness strikes, nomatter how mild the illness

[ilovedogs]

hah yup! guy thing for sure !!!!! (sorry guys )

 

lol lurker we must be married to the same guy

 

 

illness always brings out the drama in all my guys here, so I do also think there may be a neuro-immuno component to it as well that seems to trigger more of the mood/behavior stuff for them when any illness strikes, nomatter how mild the illness

Yeah, I can tell he's not doing well when he always walks into the room about to cry. I truly just don't feel sorry for him, though. He's always throwing up b/c of his anxiety and I am just getting tired of it! We have the intrusive thoughts under control for now but the rest of his anxiety issues are still there. Some days I fantasize about the day when he'll be big enough to let me live my life alone without him tagging along everywhere, etc. Or when I can go to the store without having him have a meltdown! Now, throw upset stomach on top of all of it!!! EEK!

 

Bonnie

[Toms_Mom]

Bonnie,

I can totally relate to this guy thing and I have those same thoughts about how much easier it will be when my youngest is older, which I hate because I was enjoying every minute of him growing up until this all began. He is my "baby" and I wanted him to stay little forever, but now I just want him to outgrow this whole tic disorder thing.

 

As far as boys/men being more needy I totally agree. My oldest is 17 and is always asking for me to make him a meal or snack or wanting to know WHEN am I going to go to the grocery store , wants help with school, needs this , needs that, always thinks he needs to go to the dr. when he has a sore throat swearing its strep and its usually not. My girls who are 13 and 15 are very independent. They just do their own thing. Make their own meals, snacks, make homemade cookies and brownies and are a big help with the cleaning around the house. My 13 year old even likes to make dinner for me once a week.

 

Last weekend my boys and husband were away at a tennis tournament and we had a great girls weekend. It was so relaxing without all my "needy" males including husband.

If you can get a chance maybe you could take some time for yourself?

 

Mary

[Chemar]

not sure whether any of you also notice paranoias with your kids when ill or even tiny injury. I know it is related to my son's OCD but wow he sure can get freaked sometimes for the tiniest scrape or become worried at eg a headache and say "do I have a brain tumor?" He has been that way since very young

[ilovedogs]

not sure whether any of you also notice paranoias with your kids when ill or even tiny injury. I know it is related to my son's OCD but wow he sure can get freaked sometimes for the tiniest scrape or become worried at eg a headache and say "do I have a brain tumor?" He has been that way since very young

HAHA! I had to laugh b/c my ds had a headache yesterday and he said the exact thing you said: If I have a headache, does that mean I have a brain tumor???

 

 

On a more serious note: Cheri, did your son outgrow some of this stuff or is he still like this? Can he rationalize some of his fears better or have they just morphed as he's gotten older? I remember when my son was 4 and he was the most easy going, laid back kid where nothing bothered him. I remembered thinking how easy he was to parent and how nice it was to have a kid who took getting sick in stride. Things started changing when he was around 6 and was able to start using his cognitive skills more and he became more aware of the world around him. Now that he can read, I wonder how much trouble we'll be in as he gets older in regards to his 'insightfulness'.

[Tracey111]

The nuerologist...whom I was not impressed , told me that it was my child's ADHD that made him get so dramatic. I did not realize how dramatic he had been until the DR asked me if little bumps turned into HUGE deals. I then started to notice that if he got injured it was a massive melt down!! This did subside with the tics.......BUT now we have an explosive temper tantrum sometimes when his brother irritates him enough.....crying, saying mean things, and getting a super red face! How will that one play out when he is 35??????? I worry a lot about that and ALWAYS remind them that when they get married they have to treat their wives like queens!!!!!

 

Now as far as a needy husband......hmmm.......my husband asked me to show him how to grill a sandwich in a frying pan the other day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought I was going to fall over....he thought it was a nice gesture....like he was attempting to help me out by learning to cook HIS own food in the future!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I think moms become creatures of wanting to please and care for all our babies and we then start to see this as a form of showing love???????

[Chemar]

On a more serious note: Cheri, did your son outgrow some of this stuff or is he still like this? Can he rationalize some of his fears better or have they just morphed as he's gotten older? I remember when my son was 4 and he was the most easy going, laid back kid where nothing bothered him. I remembered thinking how easy he was to parent and how nice it was to have a kid who took getting sick in stride. Things started changing when he was around 6 and was able to start using his cognitive skills more and he became more aware of the world around him. Now that he can read, I wonder how much trouble we'll be in as he gets older in regards to his 'insightfulness'.

 

its a mixed bag with him now Bonnie

 

in some respects his maturity, high IQ and that intuitive insightfulness have him to be very rational and so he has been able to work through and overcome a lot of his childhood fears (when he was younger he was also very reckless and in some ways almost fearless, which contrasted greatly with the over reaction to other things) Now he is a cautious young man who seems to really show good judgment and sense.

but that paranoia still creeps in at the strangest times and over odd things sometimes. he attributes it to the OCD and I must say since he has been on his self researched supp combo to boost his serotonin it is waaaaay better. I do feel there is a pattern between exposure to something disturbing and the anxieties and so yes, with growing up and more world awareness, that aspect also factors in

[Calicat]

Chemar, funny you say that mood/behaviour stuff is triggered with illness for some of our kids... I never related this to the tic thing before, but I have always been able to tell when my daughter would be sick the next day... because the night before she would always be teary/meltdowny. Since she wasn't normally that way, I'd say, "Mark my words; she'll be sick tomorrow" and sure enough, she was. Weird.

[Calicat]

Bonnie, hope he's better soon! My daughter, who is not usually TOO dramatic, did pull a big one on me tonight. She had been pushing me (figuratively) and whining and trying to get in trouble, and I finally lost it and got mad. So then she's all upset... goes to my craft drawers and pulls out a leather lace (for necklaces) and puts it around her neck and pulls, saying, "I'm going to choke myself". In front of me, though, just to get my reaction I guess. Well, the funny part is the lace was from the dollar store, so it promptly snapped in half and that was the end of that. But I hate that dramatic stuff, too.