The hour of poo...

What could I mean by this? Well, if you are squeamish this post is not for you. It really is about poo.

When my son Will and I arrived at camp all was right in my world. However the second night there Will woke up at 2:30 in the morning and told me he was going downstairs. I told him no because this has been a long standing struggle to get him to sleep through the night. When he said he had to use the bathroom I told him to get going as we've had some issues with bed wetting lately. (not very night, but enough that I have out chucks under his sheets.)

A few minutes later I heard Will outside my door telling me he had an accident and needed my help. Now, let me just take a minute to explain the layout of our camp. Upstairs is carpeted, you walk down a very narrow and steep set of wooden stairs to the carpeted living room. From there you walk into the kitchen, through a pantry area to the bathroom. The bathroom only has a chemical/compost toilet in it. We have NO running water due to our little pump burned out a couple of years ago. So, there's the set up, now on to what I came out to at 2:40 am: Will covered in poo from the waist down. I followed the "path" down the stairs, through the living room, through the kitchen and pantry area to the bathroom. Here I found poo everywhere. I don't even know how he got it in some of the places I found it. Does this happen to other parents? I didn't even know where to begin.

I have to admit, I didn't react well. I just didn't know where to start or even how to clean it all up. Partly due to the hour, partly because I was stunned. (I've seen a lot of mess's in my time as a mother and caregiver and this one had me stumped-at least for a few minutes). Well, my frustration boiled over a little. Will asked me not to be mad at him because it was an accident. This is where I took a breath and calmed myself enough to talk to him. I told him he's right, accidents happen. I said I WASN'T mad at him, I was just very tired and overwhelmed, not knowing where to start.

This helped, him and me. I jumped right in and cleaned his feet then legs. Then I got to work on the "path" and lastly the bathroom itself. It took me a full hour to clean the camp. At that point I put Will in the car, grabbed shampoo, soap, towel and clean clothes and took him to the showers. While he scrubbed himself (while singing me a silly little song) I got to work scrubbing out his clothes and the bath mat in the sink. Then cleaning the sink.

What a way to start the week. But seriously, do any other ASD parents have these issues? Where does it come from? How do they get it where they get it? I really don't get it.