Day 5 on Day 6, I’m Popeye the Sailor man, toot toot, I’m Popeye the Sailor man

"I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today"

I was out to lunch yesterday.

 

So maybe I’ll try two blogs today. 

 

Have you ever got “that” look? 

Parents of special needs children are used to getting “that” look when they go out in public.  “That” look is the look that a parent will get when their special needs child decides at the most inopportune time to have a “moment”.  As Bailey grew up it became more and more apparent that there was seldom a reason for the “moment”.  For the most part, as is common with ASD children, the environment became overwhelming to him for one reason or another.  His moment was his way of trying to tell us that.  Because we didn’t have Bailey’s diagnosis until years later, these early years were filled with frustration as we (his mother and I) were unable to connect with Bailey or figure out for ourselves what was going on with our son. The “not knowing” was the hardest part of all. 

 

Based on my experiences with Bailey, I am a much more tolerant person when it comes to dealing with parents who have unruly kids. It’s not true that these moments are always due to bad parenting.  Sometimes these issues are unavoidable and the parent you are getting ready to direct a dirty look or rude comment to are doing the best that they can with the resources that they have available.