Going To The Mall

Now come on, is going to the mall really a blog worthy topic???!!!!  Well, in Bobby's case, it absolutely is blog worthy!!  Let me explain.....

I remember vividly a trip to the mall just a couple of years ago.  Bobby and I went to the mall with someone who is very close to us.  As we were trying to keep up with Bobby and trying to get him to listen to us and stay with us, which I was very used to, she finally said, "I'm not sure that my marriage would survive this."  It was a major eye opener for her what it can be like to go through day to day life with a child with autism.  Granted, not all children with autism are difficult to take out in public, but for us, going out with Bobby was a huge challenge.  We started talking...a nice, honest conversation.  It just really hit her over the head what our life was like.  She talked about what she and her husband do....they go shopping, go out to eat, etc....just like most everyone else. However, for my husband and me, we got a lot of take out and rented a lot of movies to live our life in the safety of our home where Bobby was safe and secure and we were all less stressed.

I thought that this life was our fate forever.....I was ok with that.  I didn't love it by any means, but what other choice did we have.  Bobby is our son and autism is in our life.  I really don't live my life anymore thinking about the future.  The autism lifestyle is more about living in the moment and just getting through the day, week, school year, etc.  So, I didn't really think about him maturing and I definitely never dreamed that he would progress as much as he has.

As we were walking out of the mall this afternoon and walking back to our car, it was a moment that caused me to stop and reflect on his progress.

After Bobby's ABA therapy session today, we drove to the mall because we had an hour to kill until we had to meet up with Daddy.  Bobby had been asking to go "ride the train" so it seemed like the perfect place to waste some time.  We parked and he walked independently into the mall and stood by my side at the ATM with only a verbal prompt to keep him by my side.  We walked over to the train and luckily there were two conductors there and Bobby got a ride.  The conductor told me that special needs kids get to ride for free, but you have to tell them because they hate to ask, especially for kids that don't have a visible disability.

After our ride we took our required walk to Sear's to make sure that the double doors into shipping are still there in the appliance department.  Good news....they were there!!  However, guess who we saw on our walk back from Sear's!!!!!  SANTA CLAUSE!!  Good thing that there was no one in line waiting to sit on the big guy's lap, because Bobby walked right in and stood beside him.  I jumped to grab him and realized that there was no one around so we stood and talked with Santa for a few minutes.  I explained that Bobby had autism and is a HUGE FAN, and told how Bobby likes to watch Christmas movies 24/7.  We didn't try for a picture, because Bobby wasn't really dressed in appropriate attire.  I did have him stand in front of the trees....

As we walked up the mall a little further, Bobby noticed the arcade.  He has never really paid attention to the arcade before so we walked in and he looked around at the games.

I prompted him to sit down in the car and drive....

He wasn't interested in actually playing the games, but enjoyed looking at all of the lights.  We then walked up to the food court and he stood in line at Chick Fil A with me and waited while I ordered his french fries.  He carried his own bag and drink over to a table and sat down and ate perfectly.

After we ate we went into JCPenny and then into Elder Beerman to look for a new pair a pajamas for pajama day at school this coming Friday.  He did perfectly in these two department stores.  As we were getting ready to leave we walked by the play place and he said "slide."  I don't let him play there because he is way too big, however I do make an exception to this rule during the mall's Sensitive Santa event for special needs kids.  I looked over and there were zero kids in there playing and he had been SOOOO very good and has had such a crazy few days that I broke my rule and let him go play.

He was in there playing for a minute and a half before two families came in with small children.  I said, "come on Bobby, it's time to go" and he got up and walked over to me, sat down and let me help him with his shoes and we left.  It's like he totally understood that he could only be in there when there were no little kids.  We walked out the door and to the car all without me holding his hand or holding on to him in any way.

We had a normal, mostly easy outing together at the mall.  Two years ago this wasn't even a possiblity in my mind......Can't wait to see what we can do as a family in the future!!