Constipation

One day, when Ben was 5 years old he asked me if we could go to the library. He explained, that he wanted to look up information about constipation, since my husband and I weren't doing a good job of helping him with this condition. Unfortunately, he was struggling with this on a regular basis and no amount of fiber seemed to help.

We're all familiar with how uncomfortable this can be. A friend of ours compares it to "crowning" during childbirth. I can certainly see the similarities, at least in Ben's case. His graphic descriptions for anyone that would listen, were routine. Enemas (or M&M's as he would say) were becoming something he would beg us for, rather then run screaming in fear from. I blamed it on his constipated personality, rigid and stiff, rather than diet. After all, the child ate oatmeal, prunes, raisins, and bran cereal constantly. A mouthful of cavities is a testament to the amount of dried fruit he was consuming daily. Mineral oil-spiked, prune juice smoothies became his drink of choice, whipped up by my always inventive husband. I think what bothered him the most was that his brother, Max, who ate practically no fiber whatsoever (unless french fries count), taunted him with effortless, regular bowel movements.

Ben never found any remedies in the library that he hadn't already tried. At least he was satisfied that we were doing everything in our power to help him. Lucky for him, time heals all colons. To date, he still proudly has a constipated personality, but no longer suffers from irregularity.