Remember Pigpen from Charlie Brown?

gcvmom

Here we go again!
Sometimes that's how difficult child 2 behaves. Maybe it's a proprioceptive issue... he is a very messy eater. We were at a McD's today and I got a softserve cone for each of the kids. difficult child 1 and easy child were able to finish theirs without getting many drips on their hands -- nothing a single napkin couldn't handle.

Here's what difficult child 2 ended up with:

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u143/jmamendola/IMG_6480.jpg

That's just the table... I'd already wiped up a huge glob of ice cream that fell... his face was in need of a whole other box of napkins.

He's always been like this, and granted he's getting a bit better. But invariably, his is the only seat at the table that has a two-foot radius of spills both on and below the table. Sigh. I love this kid, but he can be such a mess sometimes.
 

DazedandConfused

Well-Known Member
I'm at work and photobucket is blocked, but Son is a sloppy eater too. Plus, he devours when he eats and then when he's full, he just stops. When he eats at the table, he leaves food everywhere and on himself. I've tried to gently help him be more careful and slow down, but then he gets angry and it becomes a power struggle. He tells me he's too old for Mama to help him. Of course, I counter that he's too old to be eating like a toddler. He still gets a ring around his mouth and neglects to use a napkin to clean up. Usually the ring is my avowed enemy: Flaming Hot Cheetos.

So, I just keep trying to niggle in manners and appropriate cleaniness whenever I can.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
Dazed, I think we've shared the lament about Flaming Hot Cheetos before. :winks: difficult child 2 eats them until he gets sores in the corners of his mouth. Then I have to ban them for a month or more until his mouth heals. Ugh.

I know he's got sensory issues and this is probably part of the whole problem. Sometimes he doesn't even realize he's got stuff running down his chin.
 

trinityroyal

Well-Known Member
Gcv, how did my Little easy child get all the way to your house? ;)

Little easy child definitely has sensory integration issues too, and he is also a painfully messy eater. It doesn't matter what he's eating, he gets it all over his face. And then he can't stand the sticky feeling of food around his mouth, so he wipes his face on his shoulder. His t-shirts always have lip prints on the shoulders, and his place at the kitchen table is nearly bare wood because I've scrubbed the finish right off. I follow Little easy child around with damp face cloths, trying to halt some of the mess. I even carry one in a ziploc baggie in my purse when we go out to eat.

Honestly (and I'm a little bit embarrassed to confess this), when I can't cope with the aftermath of Little easy child's mess-fest, I just feed him. We will sometimes share a plate of food, with me wielding the utensils. He knows how to use them properly, but sometimes the hypermobility issues that come along with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) make it a lot of work for him to hold his knife and fork, or even finger food, properly. So I do it for him. Not ideal, but it works for us for now.

And don't even get me started about the Flaming Hot Cheetos. They will not darken my door.
 

tiredmommy

Well-Known Member
Well... it looks like I have the token girl in this group, though Duckie will clean up her face & hands once they're messy. Usually using her clothing. :rolleyes: I'm actually pretty careful about what I'll pack her for lunch because I don't want her to be embarrassed at school because she and the table are a mess. I still have to remind her to use utensils at home.
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
I don't think liking really hot foods is a subset of Sensory Integration Disorder (SID). I do know there's a machismo culture in the US that has grown up around eating chilis, with competitions for those who can tolerate the hottest of the hot.

I do have Sensory Integration Disorder (SID), AND, I do like spicy foods, but I need to be able to taste the food through the chilis. I have GERD now and can no longer eat the really hot foods I love.

I guess the difference is that I made an adult decision to avoid much of the spice because it upset my stomach so badly. They also irritate the bladder, and I have issues (older female stuff) with that as well.

I still like hot sauce in things like on chicken or on eggs, but I sure don't use it in marinades anymore. I've switched from the original Tabasco sauce to the Chipotle version which in my opinion is much milder. A few drops'll do me fine in my scrambled eggs or whatever and it doesn't make me sick.

I tried the "Flalmin' Hot' Cheetos once and all I could taste was the burn. I like regular Cheetos, but only eat them occasionally.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Nichole's nickname when she was little was Pigpen. Travis could create a mess..........but nothing compared to Nichole. I used to swear she didn't think food tasted good unless she also wore it, as well as the table, the chair, the floor. :rofl: Wasn't just food either. She couldn't manage to stay clean more than 10 mins at a shot, even going to bed. (tooth paste inevitably landed on the front of her jammies) When she walked down the street she had Pigpen's dust trail following her.

And it was HER pockets that I found bugs and worms and frogs and lord only knows what else. lmao!:tongue: I sort o' miss those days.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
I was called pigpen as a child. Each of my kids was/is a messy eater. There seems to be a big change in the mid-late teen years where the kids get neater. I hope and pray it will hit Tyler.

thank you STILL hates to use utensils. I have had quite the collection of character silverware over the years, all in attempts to get him to use them instead of his fingers. It is one of the things the Occupational Therapist (OT) at school has worked with him on. He doesn't get upset at school though, because there are about 8 little boys in his grade (3 classes of 20-24) who are ALL like that.

I still keep babywipes all over. My purse, the car, the kitchen, the living room and every bathroom. I actually clean messes up with them. It is easier (and seems safer) to have the kids learn to grab a wipe to clean up their mess than to have them grab the clorox wipes my mother adores. Esp when the clorox ones create nasty eczema spots on the kids.

Wiz is still likely to eat with fingers rather than silverware. My mother despairs. He CAN use them, but he prefers not to.
 

gcvmom

Here we go again!
Yeah, those Clorox wipes are not meant for use on skin at ALL -- only non-porous surfaces.

difficult child 2 was also my kid that took longer to be bowel-trained during the day compared to the other two. I think it's a self-awareness thing. At least he IS getting better, just not at the rate I'd hoped, I guess. :p
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Keyana is not the neatest of eaters either. She learned to use utensils when she was a toddler but she still likes her fingers. I am wiping her face all the time and my back floorboard has seen more than its fair share of spilt drinks.
 
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