On at least three occasions, we have found food or left over cheese wrappers hidden under Ben's bed. Today we found a bowl full of an entire package of pepperoni there and by the looks of it, it had been a few days. The culprit? Sean, our three year old. Rather than overreacting, I have asked Sean some questions to try to understand his behavior - Is he hungry? Does he know he can come to Mommy or Daddy for food? Does he know he can not eat in bedrooms? Besides being able to tell me that the food is for him, not Ben, I am not sure what is going on here. I just looked at a few sites about hoarding food and it sounds like at this age, it can be common for children to collect things. At an older age, like 7, it can be a controlling parent issue. If the child has had a time in their life where food was scarce, they may also exhibit this behavior. And when a 40 year old mom hides her favorite candy, Milk Duds , a special present from her own mother, well that's just normal.
These stories describe our journey with Ben, our oldest son. Ben is a sweet and energetic redhead, born with Rett Syndrome, a rare genetic mutation. My husband, Ryan, and I try to keep up with Ben and his two younger brothers. I intend to shed insight into raising a child with disabilities and pass on the wisdom we’ve earned over the past two decades.