More control

We had another softball game on Saturday morning.  The past few weeks at softball, as I've mentioned, had been filled with on-again/off-again episodes of rage.  One of the big things we were dealing with as a result of the rage was that Monster Man didn't want anyone touching his softball equipment, nor did he want to share his treasured spot on the pitcher's mound.  He skinned his knees up pretty badly early in the week last week and was still having problems walking as a result, so I'd been warning him for a few days that I was going to put him in the outfield so he didn't have to run as much.  At first, he was okay with it, but as game day rolled around he let me know that he was not happy at all with this arrangement, and he kept begging me to put him in the pitcher's circle.  He even went as far as refusing to get dressed Saturday morning until the very last possible second, when I threatened to take him in his pajamas (I've mentioned before that I am coaching, so I have to be at the fields).  He was NOT playing if he couldn't be pitcher.

Once at the fields, he sat in a chair and pouted while watching Angel Baby's game.  During that time, I decided to go ahead and give him another one of the anti-histamine pills that he'd had the previous weekend.  I knew we had seen improvements at the last game thanks to the medication, and I thought it was best to give it another try. By the time we had to head to the field where his game was taking place, he was perfectly happy with me telling him that 'we'll see' about putting him in the pitcher's circle later in the game.  He went into the outfield without a single complaint.

The biggest surprise of all came when he was in the batting circle, waiting for his turn to hit.  The little girl that batted before him is one that he has been fighting the most with, possibly because she is the one with an attitude closest to what he's had recently, and the two seem to play off each other with their attitudes sometimes.  She is the one person that he fights the hardest not to let her touch his softball equipment.  So imagine everyone's surprise when, as she was selecting a different bat, he said "Do you want to use my bat?" and handed it to her!  And he didn't throw a fit when I decided to keep him in the outfield for the entire game.  Everyone was commenting on the difference in him by the end of the game - the parents, the assistant coach, even the other players.

The anti-histamine that he's started using when he needs help controlling his rage has been an amazing help.  I am so relieved that I have found something to help him control himself when his emotions get the best of him.