School Lunch And Sensory Disorders

When Ty was about 3 he stopped drinking milk. We had relied heavily upon his ability to drink his calories with a bottle and a sippy with a straw and carnation instant breakfast. It was like a manna from heaven. It was the only thing that really left me thinking that we were getting our daily calories and vitamins!

When the drinking stopped we would put anything he would drink in a cup with a straw. We resorted to  fizzy soda. It worked. There were more wet diapers, he would spit it, he would at least have it in his mouth. So we let him drink soda.  We didn’t care what kind and neither did he. The most common soda we had in our house was Dr. Pepper. So that became the drink of choice.

Now that we are back in Arizona, and Ty is in all day school, I had to decide what we were going to do. He HAS to drink here. There is no way that he will be able to go through the whole day of school and NOT drink. And the whole, They will drink when they are thirsty.... NOT TRUE! He will not.  He won’t eat if there is not something he wants to eat on the table. He will go without. For a LONG time.

The last 3 days have been excessive heat advisories so the kids are not allowed outside. So while Dallas and the Babe are home enjoying the air conditioner ( or not!) I worry that my fart is drinking enough to not cause a seizure or dehydrate or die!

So what do you do?

These are the things for you Utah folks (that haven’t gotten to school yet) of stuff that we have opted to do and seem to be working for us.

Ty takes a special cup that you cannot see through. It is dark purple. It has a crazy straw and the kids really like it. I have provided 8 of these cups ( thank you dollar tree) all different colors to his class. He has a drink when I drop him off of school and they have a refill in his back pack. He has yet to come home with anything but the cup. He also comes home hydrated and happy.

Food: Oh that brings on another anxiety attack. Ty has a limited Palate. Not from lack of trying in my house. For example. Tonight he had, chicken nugget dinosaurs, little corn dogs, apricot/peaches, grapes and stuffing. We didn’t have a veggie because I got distracted. There was also potatoes available. He ate the dinosaurs and the ketchup. That is all. ALL. He wouldn’t even lick the stuff we asked him to try.

So for school lunch. I look at the menu, write down what he will eat from what they have on the menu and if there is nothing there for him, I pack a lunch. Tomorrow they are having stuff he won’t eat. he is getting a PBJ sand which made into a sushi roll ( thank you pintrest!)  and chips and a apple and a donut all so he doesn’t die of starvation.

This weekend, we can treat Ty to a hamburger and french fries and he will be a happy camper.

Hope this helps those ready to go into first grade in a few weeks. They will be OK. And if all else fails, send angry bird crackers in their back pack. We have yet to get any sent back .