I'm Still Breathing. That's Positive Thinking, Right?

This day started out fairly awesome this morning but then turned to c-r-a-p by early afternoon. Our morning therapist, Jessica, and I took Reiss and Milla to a playground at a church that welcomes the public. It was a great time but while there I received a call letting me know our afternoon ABA therapist called off. No problem, that just meant we had more freedom to do whatever and go wherever the day took us. Or so I thought.

Being the health nuts that we are now and that we have been in recent years, and I say that with sarcasm because sometimes it would just be so much easier not being so knowledgeable of the different ingredients that go into consumable products on the market today, we do not keep over-the-counter cold remedies or pain relievers on-hand regularly. That's fine if we never get sick or if we never have aches or pains - and we rarely do except for the five week nightmare we experienced recently - or if natural supplements would work 100% effectively when they are taken. However, such as the case may be, despite downing capsule after capsule after pill after pill of Vitamins C, D, and Zinc and who knows what else for the last several days, James has a terrible cold and he asked if I could get him some Dayquil or something similar while I was out and about today. A trip to CVS seemed simple enough.

Before I go any further, let me explain that I really do try to remain positive with regards to outings with Reiss and Milla when I do not have James or a therapist along to help me, but deep down the mere thought of going places with the two of them and the possibilities and the what if's scare the bejeezus out of me. Reiss is a runner. Milla can be a runner. If you do not know what I mean by this, clearly you do not have a child with autism. Many typical children run too. Children with autism run and reeling them in can prove to be quite challenging. I don't really know how to explain why or how it's different when it's a child with autism running away from a parent as opposed to a typical child but that's not what this story is about anyway.

So we went to CVS and as I always do whether or not I have James or a therapist with me or I am by myself with the kids, we talked about The Rules before getting out of the car. I am not some drill sergeant mommy whose children are expected to stay in formation while walking through the grocery. Nor am I a Nazi dictator-type mother who only allows her children to stay crowded together like sardines to keep the order. I do, however, expect my two charges to refrain from running from me and to keep their outdoor voices turned off while out in public. The only other rule is that they are to look with their eyes and not with their hands unless given permission. Today they were told that if any of The Rules were broken, we would leave the store.

One minute into our CVS trip, the wandering from me had already begun. I gave Reiss and Milla a warning. They continued to wander as I tried to find the best deal on some sort of chemical coughing cure with the least amount of yuck in it. I gave them another warning not to run from me and darn it if Reiss did not outsmart me again! He told me, and I quote, "Mommy, it's okay because we're not running away. We're walking."

Really???

I could not decide whether to laugh, cry, or...or...or what. The same statement out of almost any other kid would surely be perceived as sarcasm but since Reiss has no concept of sarcasm and he processes everything in the literal sense, I had no one to blame for his and Milla's wandering but myself. After all, they were not breaking the rules because they were not running away. So I clarified that they were not to run or walk away from the area I was in and they needed to stay one arm's length from me.

Next thing I knew, Reiss and Milla were walking very fast towards the front of the store. I just watched and waited as they walked all the way down the aisle from the pharmacy to the front counter and when they saw me staring with probably the most evil look ever, they came back. When they got to me, I very calmly put the items I was carrying back on the shelves and we proceeded to leave. Or more precisely, I carried Milla screaming and kicking out of the store while Reiss walked with his hand in mine and whining all the way to the car.

All that and we still did not have anything for James and his cold.

Because I really needed to get something for James to take and because I felt Reiss and Milla deserved another chance to prove they could behave in a store, we drove up the street to Walgreens. Once again, we discussed The Rules before getting out of the car. We were in and back out with some cold medicine, cough drops, and Disney princess silly bands in a matter of about fifteen minutes and - dare I venture to say it - without any meltdowns from my children or stares from other shoppers. It was definitely a much different scene from the one at CVS just minutes beforehand.

I would like to say Reiss and Milla were angels inside Walgreens but that would be embellishing their good behaviors. They were pretty well behaved though. Well, if you don't count when Milla grabbed a bottle of fingernail polish and was about to paint Reiss' nails while I had my back turned for maybe all of ten seconds. And yes, I admit that I got roped into buying silly bands that they probably didn't deserve after the behavior they had demonstrated in CVS.

All was well and we all lived happily ever after. That is, until our next errand - to the cable company - where I had to contain myself and refrain from firebombing the place because of their lack of service and where Reiss and Milla danced and played on the floor and stood in the chairs and played with the gumball machine and asked other customers their names and rolled around on the floor being "Colts guys" and at one point, Reiss even locked the door and I just let them do all of it because goodness knows if I had to make them follow The Rules in the cable company's office while trying to stay calm with people who have left a cable running across our yard for close to four months now, I may have gone into cardiac arrest or stopped breathing or some other unintentional bodily destruction and I would not be here now to tell all about it.

Or to take another breath after that unbelievably long run-on sentence.

Edit: 10/01/2010 - Thank you, to a friend of mine who read my blog and so discreetly emailed me to let me know I used the word "wonder" where I should have used the word "wander." How embarassing! Judging by how I spell nowadays, no one would ever guess I won my elementary school's spelling be in the fifth grade and then went on to the county bee only to end up misspelling the word "measles."