I have never been a big believer in the moon affecting my child’s behavior.
I do know plenty of Autism parents who swear that they tell what the phase of the moon is by their child’s moods. I see plenty of posts on Facebook and my Twitter feed that talk about how their child is bouncing off the walls as the moon waxes full…
Now, from where I sit, the only thing that the lunar phase really has ever signified to me is the proximity of a festival that involves alcohol and/or fun. (I’d say that the vast majority of Jewish holidays that fall on/near the full moon seem to involve drinking for one reason or another…) I was trained as an astronomer in college, so I just don’t put much stock in how a planetary body that’s a quarter of a million miles away can affect moods of people on the ground. I’m not a believer that we’re tidally affected or some such…
On the other hand, I’m also sorely tempted to start charting the Monster’s behavior.
Now, I’m not entirely serious about it, to be very honest. It’s an interesting coincidence this month that I’m noticing that he seems to be bouncing off the walls more in the morning as we’re coming up on a full moon. For example, he’s been active before sunrise yesterday and today from what I’ve noticed – and admittedly, I probably only noticed that because I’ve been getting up to get in some extra me-time. (I stupidly decided to do two challenges at the same time – the #add1challenge, which I’ve been writing about in my other blog, and National Novel Writing Month. Both are are time-consuming and so rather than eat up all my family time with the two, I’ve been waking up early this week.) Because the media room is right below his bedroom, I can hear when he gets up in the morning and starts moving around. But, it definitely seems like he’s been getting up earlier the last day or two, and has been a little more bonkers when we let him get going.
Most of the time, though, he’s the same kid that I’ve gotten used to dealing with. I don’t seem to notice any kind of consistent behavior changes based on the weather, or the moon, or any such thing.
On the other hand, I now have him sitting here asking me directly if I’m “ready to go play” which is not a usual first-thing-in-the-morning thing, so…