Some days, I do a great job with my dinner.
I eat... I chew... I swallow my food and I keep my head up high.
I drink and cerebral palsy doesn't really matter.
Those days, dinner is easy and fun.
Other days, I don't do any of that.
Most days, it takes at least 20 minutes for me to eat my dinner.
A lot of the time, dinner can take 40 minutes... and a lot of patience!
But then.... I try to throw the bowl! Sometimes, I am successful, and my dinner goes everywhere!
One hand always has to be on my bowl or the bowl has to be placed out of my reach.
Because of my cerebral palsy, I do move my head, a lot! Sometimes at dinner, I can't keep my head 'in the middle', and 'nice and still'. So, a hand has to be on my head. I don't like that, though, and try to move my head even more... to knock the hand off my head!
Often, my head will fall forward, so my head has to be pushed back. If I do this too much, I get in trouble.
Sometimes, I am stubborn, and I refuse to open my mouth... or, I open it so slightly that the spoon cannot fit in my mouth. That's a bit naughty.
When I spit and drool, my mouth has to be wiped with my bib.
And then, I need a drink. Sometimes, I will only drink from a cup, which has to be held to my mouth. Sometimes, I will want to drink from a bottle. And, some days, I will refuse to open my mouth. Or, I will open my mouth and bite hard on the cup or the bottle. The biting bit is awesome, because some people said I would never be able to do that. The refusing to drink bit is naughty, and that is when we have fights. Drinking is very important to me. We still monitor how much I drink every day.
Some days, I want to feed myself and I will grab the spoon. If they don't let me, I sometimes refuse to eat. But, when I feed myself, it gets super messy and takes so long, and sometimes... there is just not enough patience left for that. They are super proud of me, for wanting to feed myself (and for being pretty good at it!). But sometimes, it is just too tiring, frustrating and difficult. They try to let me as often as they can. (You can watch me feeding myself here.)
On the bad dinner days, my noisy sisters have eaten, had a bath, gotten dressed and the littlest one can be in bed... and I am still eating dinner.
Some nights... I even fall asleep!
Sometimes, dinner can be hard.
Sometimes, dinner time reminds us how much we hate my cerebral palsy. Sometimes, Mum wants to be an octopus, so she has enough hands to feed me dinner. (She'd look funny with eight arms!)
Here's hoping tonight is an easy dinner night!
One of Those Days
The Many Faces of Dexter
Cerebral Palsy Doesn’t Stop Me Understanding Stuff
Feeding and Cerebral Palsy
Dexter's 2013
Dexter's First Month
Dexter's Vision
Dexter's Cerebral Palsy
Dexter's Cancer
Who is Dexter?
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