Hunger can be one of Hayden's behavior triggers. The new day program he just started is BYO lunch, as most similar programs are. This is a challenge for someone who prefers warm meals & such meals that fit into his sensory preference-- not just taste. A deli sandwich is hit or miss with him & there is no other regular-ish sandwich that he would entertain (such as PB&J).
On Monday I did send him with a sandwich & he ate half. I don't think he touched his snacks. Yesterday I sent popcorn chicken that I put in the toaster oven that morning & while still hot they went right into a stainless steel container. He ate his BYO lunch that day. Tuesday night we discussed Wednesday lunch options & I talked him into taking meatballs with parmesan cheese on them. Fifteen minutes before we were leaving I heated them up, put them in a container to retain the heat, & right before I put the lid on I gave them a generous sprinkle of cheese. Looked very Hayden-approved in my opinion. After his hot lunch was packed I went to put the parmesan cheese back in the refrigerator & noticed literal mold in it. I nearly wanted to cry. I had no backup plan so in my haste I grabbed something very similar to what he had for lunch the day before & threw in the last cup of applesauce with his other snacks. I really needed today to be a good lunch day because I was picking him up early for an appointment-- easily 30 minutes in the opposite direction to get home.
After I dropped him off I stopped at the grocery store to get fresh parmesan, more meatballs for the freezer, replenish his applesauce, etc. My list was about two grocery bags worth. Got in the car & about half way home I realized I forgot to get the meatballs. Couldn't dwell on that because now we have to get dinner ready. I am usually proactive about this out of necessity-- (certainly not pride or anything--) so it only needs to be re-heated when we get home. Today, especially, knowing we would inevitably be in traffic coming from his appointment. That said I had the brilliant idea of putting our planned meal in the crock pot even though normally I would have made it on the stove. But a quick online search assured me it could be a one pot meal-- just said to be careful how much water & stir occasionally. About an hour after I put it in the pot-- meat topped with dumpling-like noodles-- I check on it to do just that. Give it a stir. Took the lid off & it was a gross mushy mess. The noodles were definitely not salvageable but I used tongs to get all the meat out & then transferred to a pan on the stove. Dirtied another pot to boil a fresh bag of noodles. Second attempt, including one dirty crock pot, a large stainless pan, & a pasta pot later, it came out just right. Sink was filled with plenty to clean but hey, dinner was cooked & cooling off so it could go in the refrigerator.
Picked Hayden up early for the appointment & of course when he got in the car he told me he didn't eat his lunch because he didn't like it. I had a banana in the car for him (also something he didn't eat the two days prior), but luckily this time he did. This was going to have to hold him over after not having anything substantial since breakfast. Awesome. Not like the traffic wasn't going to add to his behavior if his discomfort from hunger didn't already set him off.
Let's just fast-forward to getting home. His dinner plate was already in the microwave when I saw him in my peripheral going to the cabinet to grab a snack. I told him I was just about to put his food on the table & he said, "I know, I'm having dessert first." I can generally gauge when to pick & choose my battles & this one was not worth the fight. I truly believed once he started crunching on something else, that would sort of get him going so he would eat his food. I let it be. I put his plate down, he brought his snacks of choice over & started on that first.
I was straightening up in the kitchen & by the time I was done, he was finished with his snacks. I was just about to ask him if his dinner plate was still warm when he pushed it away & said, "I can't eat this. I just had dessert."
I'm done, too, Hayden. You know what... I am done.
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