Up! in Smoke

Well, you can't blame a girl for trying. It was a rainy day here in St. John's (oh, I'll allow you a moment to reel in from the shock of that) so Aiden's morning soccer program was cancelled for the day. So I thought it to be the perfect day for us to try going to a movie. It's been on my "to do list" now for a while, and I've had it in my head to take him to UP! since May. Not that easy to arrange apparently. So, it being a weekday morning, i thought that now was probably a good time to go. The movie has been out for a while, so I expected the theatre to be quite empty. Which it was.
So, I packed up little Margaret, and sent her with my mom, and packed my purse to unforgiving fullness in prep for the movie. Any autism parent who reads this will understand...it's all in the prep, and in preparing for any manner of situation or request which might arise in a new situation. I had favourite snacks, apple juice (oh so important), a comfort item, the Z-Vibe, headphones for noise control...you name it, I probably had it. Well, it was all for nought. My first clue that this might not work out was by Aiden's lack of chatter on the way to the theatre....all parents know that quiet is never good. This was the tell tale sign of fear mounting. But the little trooper stayed with me through purchasing tickets (at airport style prices BTW), lining up for popcorn, and handing in our tickets, he played the game until the second we walked into the dark, LOUD theatre. "Actually, I want to go home now." he chimed in. I quietly beseech ed him to give it a try, the little guy begrudgingly sat up in his seat, and about 20 seconds later, with headphones of no help here, again pleaded his case.
So, I gave in, knowing that this bad experience means it may be years before I'll ever get him as close again.
But, tonight before going to bed, he earned a sticker on his behaviour chart for trying a new thing. Truthfully, I probably deserved a sticker too!