Obsessions…

My kids are very much the typical obsessional autistic.

NOS is still obsessed with Pokemon -I think that’ll make it a 13 year obsession. He collects every single pokemon game he can get his hands on (including mobile phone based game hacks etc) and I don’t think it’s the sort of obsession that is going to go away any time soon.

PT has focused her obsessive nature on books – print, electronic, audio – it doesn’t matter, she wants it. She is also still mightily interested in Textile Design… the days of the Monster High Dolls and My Little Pony appear to be over…

PW is obsessed with unicorns, colouring, art and her tablet. Handily they are all things that can be easily acquired and also combine nicely on the tablet too – various educational games use them.

It’s too soon to decide if SB is showing autistic traits, although it does tend to be in the back of my mind when it comes to his development. He does tend to have a singleminded fascination for things like “Hey Duggee”, “Bing” and Game Console controllers though.

TOH’s obsessions haven’t really changed over the years that I’ve known him, they just get more expensive. Jigsaw puzzles, console games, Graphic Novels, Art equipment… having 100% on the trophy sections of various games…
However, I can’t really talk; my obsessions tend to the expensive side too!

Obsession is one of those things that can be good and bad. Take my current obsessions – Art & Writing.
Don’t get me wrong, they have always been my obsessions, I’ve just never had the time or freedom to indulge them before. Now, I can work on whatever I like, put it out into the world for people to see and read and not worry about what people are going to think.

When I was younger, I was still obsessed with the idea of the perfect family / career and being a working mum. Certain things that happened, disabused me of that one – you can’t be everything to everyone and I burned myself out emotionally, physically and mentally trying.
Not to be reccommended.

Obsession gives you a focus, an attention to detail and a drive that can be useful.

For example:
On the good side, it gives you a drive to make sure that whatever you are working on is as perfect as you can make it.

On the bad side, it makes you so perfection orientated that it can be hard to let go of whatever it is that you are working on!

Me.

So with my current art projects, I have to haul myself away when I feel that perfection is just over the brow of the hill – I have learned the hard way with
various of my crafting projects that chasing that perfection will be painful.
So I stopped doing it as much as possible.

I have yet to be able to communicate that to my children though – and it hurts me to see them so frustrated with themselves when they can’t get perfection.
I suppose that they are going to have to learn the hard way; like I did. Hopefully I can cushion it when it comes to it…

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