MELTDOWN MYSTERIES, DARKNESS, AND FLOATING POOP!

Every so often Orion has a meltdown of epic proportions. When it's all over I try to relive the entire event in my mind to pinpoint what the possible trigger for the meltdown could have been.

Today we had an example of an epic meltdown.

The beginning of the day was fine. Orion colored after breakfast. Then as Oliver napped I decided not to clean the house and to give Orion my undivided attention. We played Peggy Back game for a while and then moved on to tea party. We had fun pretending to use a fake microwave and refrigerator to warm or cool down our fake beverages. Orion was very interactive and happy. I had to do some fancy footwork to get him to transition from tea party to lunch time but he agreed once I told him he could have popcorn with his lunch.

Then he quite easily got ready for school and off he went.

The after school events were an entirely different dynamic. He, oddly, didn't seem to mind me whisking him off to the potty as soon as he arrived in the house. Usually he screams about that. Then he ate his snack, a crispy rice bar and juice while he watched Buster.

After snack he looked out the window and saw the sun going down and everything unraveled. Here is what basically transpired.....


The scene:
It starts to get dark outside at around 5PM and Orion notices.

The dialog:
Orion: "It's not nighttime Mommy" (whining)
Mommy: "No, not yet. But it will be soon" (calmly)
Orion: "No it won't be. It's not nighttime Mommy!!!"(whining loudly)
Mommy: "Okay Orion" (still calm)
Orion: "Mommy it's not nighttime. I say no nighttime. It's daytime. It's not nighttime Mommy!!!!" (screaming)
Mommy: "Why don't we play tea party?" (trying to distract)
Orion: "NO!, I say no tea party. It's not nighttime Mommy!!!! NO! NO! NO!" (screeching at top of lungs-distraction didn't work)
Mommy: "Well, don't worry. It will be daytime again soon. You'll eat dinner, go to bed, sleep, and wake up and it will be daytime again"
Orion: "No, I don't want to go to bed. I don't have to go to bed. I'm not tired Mommy. It's not nighttime Mommy. I say no dinner."
Mommy: "Fine" (younger brother is now crying frantically from all the fuss, Mommy goes to rock him)
Orion: "Put Oliver back Mommy. Don't rock him. You put him back!" (demanding in a screaming tone)
Mommy: "He's tired. He needs a nap"
Orion: "No, I'm not tired. It's not time for bed" (totally misunderstands!)
Mommy: "Maybe you might like a bath. Do you want to take a bath Orion"
Orion: "No, it's not time for bed. I said no dinner. I said no bath!!!!"
Mommy: "Well, I'm gonna give Oliver a bath to calm him down" (Mommy runs bath water while Oliver frantically cries)
Orion: (carefully observing yet still whining) "I want a bath. I said yes bath"
Mommy: "How about you eat dinner first and then take a bath"
Orion: "Okay" (plays with tea party by himself. gets frustrated and dumps toys out all over the room. throws toys)
Orion: (looking out window and seeing the dark again) NO! NO! NO! It's not nighttime Mommy. I don't want nighttime" (screaming. The calm bath for Oliver is destroyed and he begins his frantic cry again)
Mommy: "Well don't tell me. Tell God. He makes the day and night. If you've got a problem with it then tell God"
Orion: "No!" (runs up and hits Oliver completely unprompted. Oliver is now REALLY crying!)
Mommy: "NO. Don't EVER hit Oliver. Say you are sorry" (firm tone)
Orion: "NO!" (hits Mommy)
Mommy: (restraining Orion who is now kicking while Oliver cries in the playpen) "No kicking or hitting. You are being very mean to Mommy and Oliver. You are making Mommy and Oliver sad"
Orion: "Waaaah. Aaaaah. Yooooow. I said NO NIGHTTIME!"
Mommy: "Okay, let's calm down. Do you want to watch Thomas video?" (resorting to distraction/bribery just because Mommy needs desperately to pump and take care of poor baby Oliver's needs.)
Orion: "NO!"
Mommy: "How about Charlie Brown?"
Orion: "No!"
Mommy: "Okay, fine"
Orion: (looks longingly at blank TV screen) "I said yes Charlie Brown!!!" (screaming again.)
Mommy: "I'll go get the video. Why don't you lie down on the bed"
Orion: "No nighttime. Aaaaaaaah!!!!!" (screams and throws stuff around the room completely out of control)
Mommy: "Are you feeling sick?"
Orion: "Yes"
Mommy: "Why don't you rest"
Orion: "NO!" runs over to playpen and hits Oliver
Mommy: (extremely mad now) "Stop. That's enough. Say you are sorry" (firm)
Orion: "NO! NO NIGHTTIME, AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! (screaming, kicking, fighting, throwing, the works!)
Mommy: (decides to call prayer warrior friends) "I'm calling Carol to tell her about your behavior"
Orion: (looking startled) "No Mommy. Don't call Carol. Don't call Carol. Don't call Carol. DON'T........CALL......CAROL!!!!!" (fights Mommy for phone. Gets it out of her hand because she is holding crying Oliver. Forcefully throws phone on the floor, breaking it)
Mommy: (reaching for spare phone) "You broke the phone Orion. Daddy is going to be very upset. I am calling Carol now"
Orion: "NO!!!!!!! AHHHHH! " (random screaming at top of lungs continues while he tries to rip the phone from Mommy. Mommy has a good grip this time and calls in her prayer request. Not sure if they heard her over the yelling but she figures they get the idea that there is distress in her home. Hopefully Carol has caller ID and knows it's us)
Mommy: "I told Dustin you were not behaving"
Orion: "NO! Don't call Dustin" (looks at broken phone on floor and points) "I BROKE THIS STUFF!!!I BROKE THIS STUFF!!! I BROKE THIS STUFF!!!"
Mommy: "Yep, you sure did. That was very bad" (firm, bothered tone)
Orion: (goes into other room and dumps out tea party toy box - kicks toys around room)
Mommy: (drags Orion over to toy box) "You need to pick up all of those toys Orion. Right now!"
Orion: "No!"
Mommy: (puts poor crying Ollie back in playpen. Muscles Orion over to toys. Puts her hands over his and makes him pick up the toys with his hands)
Orion: "I say NO!" (as soon as toys are put away he picks up the box and dumps them out again. Mommy repeats pickup routine with Orion 3 more times)
Oliver: (playing with TV remote somehow turns on Charlie Brown video)
Orion: (distracted by Charlie Brown video goes over to bed and lies down with pooh blanket) "I'm going to bed"
Mommy: "Good idea"

The closing scene:
Mommy proceeds to fix dinner for both boys and feed them. Puts Orion in bath afterwards. Orion sits there until he's shriveled like a prune and Mommy insists he gets out. Orion throws a fit and then poops in the tub. Mommy loses her mind. Mommy takes Orion out of bath and screams. She tells him to sit on the potty and not touch anything. Daddy arrives home to this chaos. Oliver is crying, Mommy is screaming, Orion is naked on the toilet, and there is floating poop. Mommy charges upstairs to find bleach cleaning stuff. Mommy sanitizes everything and gives Orion a second bath. Orion calms down and is nice the rest of the evening. Mommy decides that she will fill out the paperwork for the child psychaitrist soon...and she might need to see one for herself too!