The past few months my teenager has had increasing challenges surrounding school and emotional issues, all rooted in his experiences with autism/aspergers. But because of the way those affect him, the stress often comes out at home, in places and situations, and at people, that don’t seem related at all. Kind of like when you are stressed about a work deadline, and the stress causes you to yell at your internet for being slow.
For us this has resulted in increasing complaints that my son doesn’t have a bed. I know, sounds bad. We have been living with family for the last year and a half. His bed is on the floor, since there is limited space and limited actual bed. And no one wants to sleep with his brother, who can take up a whole queen even though he’s 6 and really small for his age.
Lots of the challenges we are facing have to do with school and therapy. Most I have little control over - resolutions, waitlists, or no solutions at all. But the bed I could do something about.
We don’t have money to spare. But we needed a solution that would fit in the tiny bedroom and in the budget. Normally I would never make a big purchase a priority. I waited a year to buy sneakers that were more than $40. But I knew I had to do something. The solution we found was a loft bed from Ikea. Not cheap, but less than other options. It took 6 hours to build, and left me very close to broke for the next 3 weeks.
His quality of sleep is important enough to prioritize that ahead of many things. Because it’s the only thing I can give him right now that will have lasting benefits. I’m crossing my fingers this will help. I know it won’t hurt anything except my bank account. But it was the one thing I could have a positive effect on, the one problem I could solve.