DeeDee, I laughed out loud at your observation about the garden path being so pleasant that he wants to make all the stops on it. I think this is definitely a part of it, because it often becomes more like I'm a witness to an internal conversation that part of an active one.
Zen, thank you, thank you, for being so willing to open up about your own processes in order to help me understand. It is really hard to ask such personal questions to my spouse, as it always comes out a little bit (and sometimes probably a LOTTA bit) like criticism. So being able to ask you really does help me analytically understand since this is totally foreign to me but something I absolutely must learn in order to not only understand my family but be able to help create strategies that will help my kiddo maneuver better in his world.
So do I understand you correctly when you say it is more at greasing the hinges so they swing better and faster than about an OCD-type reaction? At first I was thinking it was more of an OCD ritual type thing, but now that you describe it this way, I'm thinking this may be the case, because the passion and excitement revs up as he continues along the path - even as mine begins to dwindle since I've been down the path before. It's not so much of a need-to-touch-all-these-knobs-before-I-can-go-out-the-door type reaction.
