Meltdown in Isle 4

‘Tis the season…. for meltdowns.  As I scan through my facebook and blogging friends (is there any other kind of friend?) I see many of us are finding our children are having difficulty adapting to the season.  So they  have meltdowns.  Tonight we had our second meltdown in Kroger this week.  The first one was the uncontrollable crying screaming/growling type with some foot stomping and squeezing.  The second was the type where she is slugging me repeatedly while I hold her as best I can. I’ve had a number of these episodes where I’ve seen sneers, eye-rolling and unsolicited advice.  Yeah, I hate that too.  But I must say, I don’t know if it’s autism awareness, the kind of shopper that comes to Kroger, or just the spirit of the season.  People have been really nice.  Quite often people stop and ask “Can I help you in any way?”  It’s very kind and at the same time, a little funny.  What can I say?  “Sure if you can hold her feet with enough force to keep her from kicking you, maybe we can drag her out of here together!  If your uncomfortable with that maybe you can just sit on her so she doesn’t break any thing and try to keep your face out of her reach.”

Of course, I just say “No, thank you, but I appreciate the help.”  

Many people just smile a sympathetic smile.  Some may find it condescending, but I find it comforting. Some people distract Naomi by talking to her.  I love these people!  The relief is temporary, but still much appreciated.  Most just carry on with their shopping.  Quite honestly, I am impressed that they can do this with the racket that’s going on.  They don’t even look.   It helps to know that they don’t feel like they need to get involved or make their opinions known, they just move along, so we can work through it as we must.  

So to the Kroger shoppers out there: Thanks!  I hope I don’t jinx this trend and run into some horrible person tomorrow.  I know horrible people are still out there, but maybe they are decreasing as awareness increases.  For now, I’ll just be grateful for the shoppers we saw tonight.