Unforeseen circumstances

Last week we noticed something rather distressing: Mia has a bald patch at the crown of her head. It happened at some point last Friday or Saturday, and it was rather sudden. Mia tends to twirl her hair and often pull out strands of it, but this was a pretty big chunk of hair - she has a good amount, and it's thick. We have no idea when it happened or if she pulled it out or if it fell out. Krys wondered if we should get her some anti-anxiety medication, but I don't know if that will help - she tends to get bored and want to do something with her hand, and if there's nothing around, she'll twirl her hair. The only time I can think of her having the time to do this is at night, but she does sleep very well, so I don't know. We didn't find a hunk of hair around, so I fear she might have eaten it ... however, she hasn't choked on anything in the past week and I think she would have on such a decent-sized chunk. It's quite the mystery.

This is one of those weird things you don't anticipate when you're taking care of someone long-term. I'm even talking about parents of "regular" kids - you think you're going to be confronted with certain events, but you don't prepare for all of them. With special needs kids, you have more things to think about, but it's the same principle. So I can reconcile myself with "We're going to be changing Mia's diapers for the rest of her life (or at least until she goes into a home, which she may or may not)" and "My daughter will probably never walk, even with a walker," but I didn't really anticipate having to figure out why my daughter has a big bald spot on the crown of her head. I mean, really.

She won't wear hats, and her hair is too short to comb over it (plus, it's so thick that as short as it is, styling it differently is tough), so her bald spot will be there for everyone to see! The only thing I guess I have to do is explain to her teachers (school starts on Wednesday) that we don't know what's going on with her hair. Now we have to figure out if we can do anything to stop her from twirling her hair. That would be nice. I keep wanting to go to the woman who cuts her hair and say, "Give her the Sinéad!" That's one solution!