City

Sometimes you have to get things in perspective.

Yesterday mine was skewed. Worse than Dougal’s misinterpretation of small cows and far away cows in Father Ted.

Let me get my defence in first. I was brewing my patented New Year (Stinker Of A) Cold™ and my head felt like someone had locked me in an echo chamber with bin-bothering gitdancers Stomp.

Of course, this was a day my daughter was 'on one'. One of her repitition cycles. Not just a cycle, a sodding great perseveration Penny Farthing, its spokes made out initially of teeth:

“I don’t gnash my teeth, do I, Mum?”

“I don’t gnash my teeth, do I?”

“Some people gnash their teeth, but I don’t, do I?”

“I thought I gnashed them, then. Did I gnash them?”

“I don’t gnash my teeth, do I, Mum?”

...and then of Lego:

“I like Lego Friends.”

“I like Lego Friends.”

“I really like Lego Friends.”

“I like Lego City, but I like Lego friends best.”

The Declamatory Declaration Of Lego Liking continued throughout the day, with the slight variation of asking her brother if he liked Lego friends, too; if he also liked Lego friends; and if Lego friends was something that he liked.

I stopped counting at the 57th repeat, and believe me that was much nearer the start of it than the end of it.

She can’t help sometimes getting stuck in a loop of repetition - because of her syndrome. It’s a common trait in people with Prader-Willi. It’s not her fault. But I still lost it. I shouted at the top of my croaky voice at her, the thin strands of my patience snapping and pinging in all directions as I got irrationally angry. A completely pointless rant that left both me and her upset.

Today I felt terrible about it.

So much so that I dug out every Lego set we own (including a fire station, jeep, ambulance, and police truck) to construct and add to the Lego Friends house that had caused such uproar yesterday. With music blaring out, I sat with my daughter, and we built this city on rock and roll, repeats and all.

Video is Starship - We Built This City. I can only apologise.

Perseveration

Most people who have been in a car with small children at some point in their life are familiar with the phrase: “Are we nearly there, yet?”

The repetition of a question over and over again can be a particularly effective form of mental torture. Luckily, most children grow out of it. Unfortunately, some children with Prader-Willi Syndrome don't. There is a proper term for it: 'Perseveration'. (I've got my own rather Anglo-Saxon way of describing it, but perhaps this isn't the place). 

'Perseveration’ in the medical sense is as follows:

per·sev·er·a·tion (pr-sv-rshn) n.

1) Uncontrollable repetition of a particular response, such as a word, phrase, or gesture, despite the absence or cessation of a stimulus, usually caused by brain injury or other organic disorder.

2) The tendency to continue or repeat an act or activity after the cessation of the original stimulus.

So, pop-pickers, I’ve compiled a handy Top Five of this week’s favourite questions/phrases, with a small explanation of each:

1) “Is the chain still good?”

We’re moving house, and have taken great pains at every step of the way to explain how a housing chain works and how it can break down at the last minute.

2) “Have I still got lots of teeth?” 

This stems from my daughter’s worries that if she grinds her teeth, they’ll wear away and disappear.

3) “Is my voice too quiet?”

A current obsession with the volume of things, leading neatly into... 

4) “I’m deaf.” 

A misunderstood lesson at school on how your hearing works has her believing anything vaguely loud will ‘vibrate the hairs in her ears until they break and she goes deaf’.
5) “When’s dinner/tea/breakfast/snack time?” (delete as applicable)

This should really be at number one, but it’s such a constant in our life that we actually do a pretty good job at deflecting this one with distraction techniques.

Of course, this kind of thing is not just confined to people with PWS. I understand ALL teenagers have the same problem, but oddly with just two questions: “Can you give me a lift?” and “Can you lend me a tenner?”

Video is Fleetwood Mac - The Chain