Before they left for Seaside, Benji and I talked about putting up a hammock in his room. He really likes the hammock area at the physical/occupational therapy clinic, and I thought putting one up in his room might give him a way to calm down and settle a bit better.

I ordered the hammock before they left, and it arrived fairly quickly. Hanging a hammock is pretty easy; you just have to make sure you go into a stud, and use a sturdy enough hook.

I sent Ian and Benji a picture of the finished hammock, and Benji loved it. He told me to allow only three snuggles in at one time.

So the next day, I sent them this:

Four snuggles. Benji made an exception: Those four go together normally.

So then the next day I sent them this:

A bunch of big snuggles “wanted” to get into the hammock! Benji decided that was okay, as long as they didn’t put more in.

So then the next day I sent them this:

When he got home, he promptly evicted all of them except his favorite to make room for himself:

He hasn’t actually slept the night in the hammock yet, that I know of.

But: Previously it was impossible to get him to just stay in one place and stay quiet long enough to read a chapter of a book at bedtime. I notice that if he lays in the hammock, he swings himself (sometimes a lot) but doesn’t keep hopping up and fiddling with things. He seems to interrupt less, too. I’m not sure why that’s so, but it makes reading much less distracting and frustrating for all of us.

I consider the hammock a win even if he never sleeps there.