Sunday, October 21, 2012

What's the WORD on the street?


So, the morning didn't start off quite the way Zachary had hoped.  We went to Party City to buy Halloween costumes, and Zachary was banking on the fact that Lloyd the Green Lego Ninjago guy would be there.  I forewarned him that this may not go as he's planned, but sometimes these little lessons in life happen and, honestly, need to.  It's part of life in the real world...the world that Zachary needs to live in whether he likes it or not.  These little lessons in life are not always easy, but they happen never-the-less.  REALITY

As expected, Lloyd was not at Party City.  DISAPPOINTMENT

Although Zachary was a little cranked up about Lloyd, he was able to hold it together, and he very appropriately chose another costume a few minutes later....the Gangster with the Tommy Gun and cigar.  As his luck, and mine, would have it, there seems to have been a run on boy Gangsters this year in Western NJ, and they were out of stock!! UGGHH!!  Definitely a little more cranked up this time around, Zachary STILL held it together albeit with a lot more reminders/prompting about appropriate voice volume and tone. (Lots of momentarily closing of the eyes and deep breaths on my end, too!)  FRUSTRATION 


As I hugged Zachary and tried to explain the "solution" to our problem, he started to cry a little since he knew he wasn't going to leave Party City with his costume.  Then he looked down and asked Twinkie, "What are we gonna do?"  He sat on the ground and gave Twinkie a big hug which she happily accepted.  Once I put Twinkie in a "down", Zachary wanted to lay on her for comfort...and did....right in the middle of the floor at Party City.  He was even asking Twinkie to do "over" which is something he likes her to do at home when the going gets rough for him.  SUPPORT


After you've successfully negotiated a seemingly benign event such as buying a Halloween costume with your child who did not yell and cry in a big way because they've just used every bit of self-control, impulse control and everything else you've taught them to do in this situation, you honestly could not care any less what people think of your nine year-old laying on the floor with their service dog for a couple of minutes.  It's what he needed, and it's exactly what Twinkie's roll in Zachary's life is all about.  THANKFUL

After just a couple of minutes of quiet time with Twinkie, Zachary was a-okay and ready to move on!   I was able to order his costume in-store from their on-line kiosk, and we were ready to go the pumpkin patch we've taken the kids to since they were babies!  FAMILY