Son Day

Operating on the principle that into every child’s life a little boredom must fall, Alex and I went shopping today. Why inflict such cruel punishment on my autistic son? It’s Memorial Day. Practically mandatory to hit a sale or two. Ned and Jeff were at the Intrepid for a morning of Fleet Week activities, starting with breakfast on the flight deck. I needed something to wear. Old Navy flag t-shirts were buy-one, get-one-free today.

Old Navy Flag t-shirt

To sweeten the deal, we planned to go to Borders if Alex was good. (That’s what I told him. We were going to go anyway. I just wasn’t counting on actually getting to try anything on.)

It actually went quite well. I repeated over and over again, “We’re going to a store where Mommy can try on some clothes. Then: bookstore!” Alex was a good and patient shopping companion. We stopped briefly in Crate and Barrel (on the way) and Pottery Barn (also on the way). We went to the clothing store. I looked for things to try on, headed for the escalator, and Alex started to balk. “No more!” he said. We went upstairs anyway. Picked out jeans and luxuriated in a perfectly sized dressing room with bench for Alex to sit on and read. After I’d tried everything on, he grabbed my sandals and handed them to me. As we left the store, he said, “Bookstore! Bookstore!” He was visibly thrilled.

Our bookstore visit was also a success. I mostly sat in an easy chair and read “Design Your Life: The Pleasures and Perils of Everyday Things,” which I think will make a great gift for my sister. Alex darted around some but stuck to the children’s area. He picked out three books he knows quite well and painstakingly peeled the sales stickers off. (I replaced them and told him we couldn’t do that.) Then it was time to leave. I wrested two  of the books away and told him we’d buy one. ONE. “Pick one,” I said. “Pick two!” he answered. Sadly, he ran away when I was at the cash register so I had to take off after him. We didn’t get the book, because running away is, I explained, a deal breaker. I’m pretty sure we have a duplicate copy at home anyway, and I’ll look for it later.