I have tried to block out much of my childhood because it brings back many unhappy memories that I would rather not remember. Nobody likes bad memories especially ones that make you feel different from everybody else. Sitting alone at the lunch table has to be one of the worst memories I have. I never got to talk to other kids because they would make fun of me and tell me I was strange. At recess, I would sit alone and play in the sandbox because none of the other kids would play with me. I remember not being able to tie my shoes and I really struggled with unbuttoning my jeans just to go the bathroom.
Talk about ridicule, just tell other 3rd graders you cannot unbutton your pants… this is when the teasing really gets out of control.
Most of the time when I would go to the bathroom I would get a firm grip on my pants and often I would just yank them down in hopes that they would just slide down, but when they wouldn’t I would just keep on tugging and tugging until I could get them down far enough to allow me to use the toilet even if it ended up stretching or even making a hole in my pants.
It was definitely easier when I wore a skirt instead of pants; no struggle there. I absolutely hated suspenders; how in the heck are you supposed to get your buttons undone on those things?
I just want parents out there to know that there is help for this… get your kids some occupational therapy!! After only a few months of occupational therapy, I was truly a different kid. I could wear clothes like the other kids in my class and I no longer was worrying about unbuttoning my pants!
