Spilling the beans

Tonight I found myself doing something that many a mother has done for their child, I was making a blanket.  Unlike so many mothers though, I wasn't knitting, crocheting or quilting a blanket for a young baby.  When my children were young, I didn't know how to sew and barely knew how to knit.  Thankfully, our boys' great grandmothers supplied our babies with a lifetime's worth of snugglies.  Unlike the light colored, soft blankets of infants, my son's blanket is dark blue with red stitching.  It is soft though and it was specially made for my child; however, this blanket is weighted. 

Children (and adults) on the spectrum sometimes benefit from certain sensory therapies.  For instance, children who have a difficult time remaining in their chair at school can be helped by placing a weighted cloth over their lap.  For many on the spectrum, the deep stimulation such as from such a blanket, is calming and soothing to them. 

It hadn't occurred to me until after I had spent several hours in my son's psychologist's office that my son might benefit from some sensory therapy (often a part of occupational therapy).  My best clue that my son might benefit from a weighted blanket was when I really observed him playing with his younger brothers.  What had been oddly baffling behavior, finally made sense to me.  He would ask his brothers to lay on top of him.  My oldest would be bright red in the face from having two 30-40 pound boys wiggling on top of him.  He'd laugh about it the whole time and they would too but I realized he was craving that sort of weight on him.  Clearly, this behavior won't be tolerated by his brothers once they're old enough to think he's being weird by asking. 

I decided that I would make him his own weighted blanket so that he could place it on him when he needs to calm down or when he just craves the weight.  I'm still a novice sewer but I managed to make a simple blanket for him out of soft, t-shirt material which I stuffed with beans and rice to provide the needed weight.  It was a bit tricky to sew, especially when I was sewing with the beans and rice in it.  The fabric was being pulled down on one side by the beans and was light on the other side so I'll admit that my seams aren't the most beautiful I've ever seen.  Despite how imperfect it was, though, I did feel a sense of pride as I was completing it - so much so that I got cocky and literally spilled a good cup worth of beans and rice on the carpet. 

After finishing my baby's blanket and halfheartedly cleaning up my mess (since the vacuum would wake the boys and we don't dare risk that!), I tried out the blanket on myself.  It is rather comfortable I'd have to say.  It is soothing to feel the weight on you, especially where you're tense since it helps to ease the stress in that area.  So, tomorrow, we'll see how my son likes it.  I already know my twins are already interested in their own and, of course, I can't explain that this is a special blanket just for their brother.  Perhaps when I make theirs, my seams won't be so crooked and I won't spill the beans.