When Amy claims that her “tummy hurts,” it could mean that she is tired, hungry, overstimulated, scared or actually has an upset tummy. When Noah claims that his “head hurts,” it could mean that he is tired, overstimulated, anxious, about to have a nosebleed or having a migraine. Tommy complains constantly. I understand that his sensory system is scrambled and it is feels like his nerves are physically on top of his skin, but it makes it hard to take anything he says too seriously. “My feet hurt” might just mean he needs to remove his shoes and socks. Over the holiday weekend Tommy complained about his stomach hurting. Did he eat too much candy? Was he tired? Was he avoiding participating in cleaning? The solution is frequently to wait and see if someone else has the same symptoms during the next few days. I have come to the conclusion that Tommy’s stomach really did hurt. Mommy feels blech today.
I thought this was going to be about an entirely different kind of faking it.
My kids always get phantom symtoms when there is something they don’t want to do (clean, homework, whatever). So as a fictional example, if I say “it’s time for dinner” and one says “my stomach hurts, I’m not going to eat” I don’t press the issue. An hour later, if I say “who wants dessert?” and the same child has miraculously cured themselves? They get to eat dinner before dessert.