In pursuit of the I-pod touch - Update

Today I am going to revisit something I wrote about recently. Following is an excerpt from that entry:

Food is particularly troublesome for us. I believe that it is the only constant in her life over which she has any control. She does not seem to recognize when she is full and will eat forever. We have ceased to buy potato chips in our house - which happens to be my favorite food. We hide the candy and keep lots of fruit in plain sight - and monitor everything as best we can.

When Alex's sports are in full swing: basketball, skiing, soccer and track we are more successful at food moderation. However, with school just back in session and a summer of little activity - as I work full time - Alex is about 20 pounds overweight. This is where the bribe part comes in - Alex wants an I-pod touch - so I told her if she lost 10 pounds she could get one.

 Last night I asked Alex to get on the scale - and as all us girls know - in the evening we are always at our heaviest. I did this on purpose though - because even though I have saved Alex's birthday and holiday money this I-pod touch will still cost me $20.00 and I am not giving it up that easily.

I suspected Alex had not lost any weight recently. She has only had two football practices and been home alone recently after school- the other two have school activities and John and I are not home until six. Yesterday, I went out for a bit and when I came home I checked on her in the den. She had a fork in her hand - when I asked why, she said she was playing with it. It only took me a minute to find that she had hidden some left over Chinese food underneath her chair. I guess you have to admire the gumption in this - but I do not condone the lying.

About three months ago, I was cleaning the cabinets in the den. I happened to open a couple of doors I hadn't opened in while. Imagine my surprise, when, inside I found six plates, three glasses and assorted spoons and forks. There were also empty soda cans - candy wrappers and potato chip bags - a veritable kitchen. Now, I knew I had been missing some of my plates - but I thought the other kids had broken them and never 'fessed up. Never in my wildest dream did I think my 16 year old daughter with down syndrome was out smarting me. Alex - beware!

I can tell when Alex has gained weight - so I knew this could be an ugly scale appointment. Alex now has 14 1/2 pounds to lose to get the I-pod touch, a gain of 4 1/2 pounds in three weeks - Yuck! Now - I know she wants this I-pod because she spent three hours on the computer one evening this week looking up the songs she wants to load - but apparently - food to her is more important.

We had our usual talk about being healthy and exercising - but until her sports set in we will continue to have this battle. John and I spoke this morning - but I feel like deja vu again - we need to get her to exercise, we need to monitor her food intake - but obviously we are not doing a good job. Yes, sometimes we have very, very bad days. Today she WILL exercise! After all - we are in training!