Today Alex went to Sam's Club with me! Just like his brothers, he did
really well. I was pleasantly surprised at Alex, who is my one autistic
child with that rage factor. I wasn't looking forward to a 15 year old,
180 pound boy tantruming in the middle of the store or laying down in
an aisle and refusing to get up! (yes, it HAS happened!)
He did seem quite anxious as we got close to arriving, but calmed
down when he saw where we were going. He was much better
at steering the cart than his brothers were and he was great at
helping me pick items off of the shelves! We had an extra long list,
picking up some additional items our
church needed, so we were there about an hour!
He had a smile on his face the whole time! He was especially
happy to pick out some of his favorites ~ a rotiserre chicken,
strawberries, and a huge box of toilet paper. (he loves to make sure
the rolls are stacked in the linen closet and he restocks the bathrooms, too!)
But his most favorite treat to pick was this huge thing of cheese balls!
It must have brought back some great memories......
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.....from when he was younger! He has always loved them!
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He looks just the same, doesn't he? Only bigger! :) 
Awwwwww, sweet Alex!
ReplyDeleteLOVIN' his cheese curls/puffs! I like 'em too!
Glad you had a good and successful trip!
i love those cheese balls as well! yes, he does still look the same! i think a mother always sees the little boy even when they're all grown up. my son will turn 32 this year. yikes!
ReplyDeleteHehe, I am with Alex, who doesn't love cheese balls!;)) I wish we had a BIG container like that available to buy here in Denmark.;))
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear the trip was successful! He does seem to be very fond of those cheese balls : )
ReplyDeleteI always try to prepare myself mentally for a potential meltdown (rare now but horrible to deal with in public!) I took the kids errand running last week and they were angels. I took them on Monday, before summer school started for Stephen, and he cried and quoted a Dr. Seuss computer game very loudly, from the time we left the house until we got jelly beans at CVS.
People with typical children take it for granted that they can go to stores with their older children without incident. It is one thing to have a tantruming toddler in a store and another to have almost tween or teen freaking out. I just try to stay calm (always the best way to deal with a tantrum)especially because your emotional state seems to amplify an Autistic childs emotional state, and ignore all the staring.
Have you ever taken all 3 to the store? Did you have backup (hubby, family, friend)?
When he was little and totally out of control, I tried to only go shopping with him and/or his sister when my hubby was with me in case he had to be removed from the store.
God bless you Betsy!
So glad you two had a good shopping day...are the cheese balls gone yet? ha
ReplyDeleteQueenB ~ yes, we used to take them all with us. We had several meltdowns...all three of them...and even with The Mister there, it was just too much to handle. Depending on what we are doing, even if they are well behaved, it's just too many autistic teens to handle. It's usually just a matter of them not liking where we are and fussing. Makes it unenjoyable for all. :)
ReplyDeleteWith my smooth trips out this summer, though, I think we could try a trip to Sams all together!
Some day when I'm feeling extra spunky and when we don't have a very long shopping list! :)
I started giggling as soon as that photo of Alex and the huge tub of cheese puffs popped up on the screen. Priceless
ReplyDeleteI have so enjoyed your posts highlighting the shopping trips with each of the boys. It sounds as though the one-on-one time has been pleasant and encouraging for you... and it's always nice to spend time alone with your kids enjoying their unique personalities.
What a great trip it sounds like you had! Glad it worked out so well. Too bad you couldn't put him in a bathtup with cheese balls for a photo op...remember that? :)
ReplyDeleteWhen Hubby and I were in one of the local malls a month or so ago, we were on the top floor and could hear a child screaming. We thought it was just an unhappy toddler. When we came out of the store we were above the food court area and noticed several people lining the railing looking over, so we went to check it out. Then we heard a yell. There was a boy, I don't know, somewhere in the 9-12 year old range, and he was thrashing around his mom. She wasn't really a small lady either. We decided to walk off because we didn't think it was appropriate to watch, but about then he ended up on the floor and was still yelling and a security guard walked up. You could still hear the yelling as we were walking the other way. I wondered if you ever had these types of problems (especially with the boys being so big now and obviously bigger than you) and how *special* that makes you, not a spectacle to be watched. But it made me think of how you described how Alex could be.
God bless you, girl! I admire what you do every day with your family.
Well done Alex! I love the massive jar of cheese balls!!!
ReplyDeleteI love cheese balls too, Alex! I'm glad the trip to Sams club was a success!
ReplyDeleteAlex is adorable (then and now!). I'm glad he handled things so well. We could use someone here dedicated to restocking the bathroom with toilet paper!
ReplyDeleteam so happy it tuned out well...lots of orange fingers in his life right!!
ReplyDeleteHe's really enjoying those cheese puffs. I haven't had one of those in years. I think I could eat half that bag right now!! :P
ReplyDeleteHooray for Alex! I'm so glad to hear that the two of you enjoyed your outing to Sam's.
ReplyDeleteI have to commend Alex for his good tastes. Those cheese balls are indeed delicious!
Now those are cheese balls with an ATTITUDE!!! Alex, please pass some up to the North. :-D
ReplyDeletehahaha,wow that is a large tub of them too!
ReplyDeleteSo nice you had a peaceful trip and love the cheesepuffs myself, which gives me hippuffs, thighpuffs, stomachpuffs, etc. But who cares if we sometimes need to have comfort food. Alex sure looks like he is having fun eating them.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
that's a lot of cheese puffs. glad it went well. can;t imagine how hard that would be to have a kid that big have a tantrum, fling himself to the floor and not get up. One day you will have to talk about how you maneuvered your way through that.
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