Food

Food can be such an interesting topic. Some people eat to live and some live to eat. Where does autism fall in all this?

Cycles. Food cycles to be exact. I always thought my son was the only one to eat one food for days, weeks, and sometimes months. Then he would switch foods.

I thought that until his doctor said she didn't know how parents worked with this type of eating.

What? I'm not alone? No and neither are you.

Here are some of his foods that he cycles:

Pizza. Not just any pizza mind you it has to be pepperoni pizza. And can it be from anywhere? No that would be too easy.

He would ask for a pizza for lunch, dinner and breakfast.

It would get to the point of buying 2 pizzas on Saturday so we would have enough on Sunday.

Now people might says - just don't give him anything else and he'll eat what you are serving.

It doens't work that way. I have seen him go 2 days without eating!

I don't know what it is but they have to have what they want to eat.

We have just left the pizza phase and that has been going for months.

I'd take pizza to school for lunch. We would buy a pizza on the way to a doctor's appointment. Buy one on the way home from school. Pizza was everywhere.

Now we are on McDonald's saugsage biscuits and Butterfinger Blasts from Sonic.

While he is in his early morning gospel class I run to McDonald's and buy 8 sausage biscuits. He will eat 4 at a time. I'll buy 8 so then he'll have 4 to eat before he goes to bed. He doens't eat them after school because that is when he has to have his Sonic Blast.

When he was younger it was fish sticks with 3 times as much ketchup as there were fish sticks.

Scrambled eggs are another cycle. Not just scrambled but scrambled eggs that are cooked all the way until they are dry. Then they have to be covered in pepper! Every little piece of egg has to have pepper on it.

Once it was chili and cheese. Not just a little cheese either. Cheese had to be melted into the chili and then there had to be melted cheese on top. Let me tell you - that was quite a trick sometimes.

Nachos. You got it. Doritoes covered in cheese. I sometimes thought I should just put a bunch of cheese on a plate and melt it and hand him a fork.

You may be thinking how in the world do you pay for this? That is a good question. I save every dime and I'll buy him food before I will eat out. Extreme? Maybe?

But this is my normal.

From my world to yours.....

Mary