Patience.....

Today is Sunday. Today Victor, Kyle's respite guy, usually comes to watch him and play with him so I can get a few things done or have a break or whatever. Well, Victor is taking a vacation (i dont blame him) which left me with no break. I woke up this morning with a great idea. Take the kids to Target. All of you who know me well, know I do not venture out with both my kids very often. Especially by myself. Kyle alone demands all my attention in a store. Then you add busy Cody and it makes for a stressful trip. Well, today I woke up feeling pretty confident (and I needed wipes ASAP so maybe desperate)! I got the kids dressed and off we went. I even decided to drive to Super Target. Their carts are better, its less crowded ( a bonus for Kyle), and I needed a few grocery items.

I talked to Cody the whole way there about being a good boy and listening to mommy and trying to help Kyle if he cries, etc. We pulled up to my favorite place on earth. Unload both the kids and walk over to grab a cart. Cody of course already starts to whine about not wanting to get in the cart. I use all my muscle to lift my giant almost 6 year old autistic child into the front of the cart. Mind you he doesnt help at all, dead weight. I am trying to weed his legs into the holes and its not working, hes huge! Finally after a few attempts we get it. Cody is hanging on the front of the cart and we are off to shop, as fast as I possibly can

We start out pretty good. Cody acting like a train and Kyle taking in all the things going on around us. Then we pass the Tvs. Uh oh. Kyle starts to whine and point at the Tvs. He wants to go watch. I wanna hurry up and get outta the store. I keep going. Kyle is getting increasingly aggitated and Im getting increasingly anxious. Cody has gotten off the cart about 800x by the time we are half way done. I keep threatening him and he keeps not listening. At one point he gets off and sees something. Goes over picks it up shrugs his shoulders and PUTS IT IN HIS MOUTH! I know so gross. Calmly as possible, I walk over to get him and tell him thats not ok and to see what it was exactly, when Kyle starts to cry and proceeds to throw things outta the cart. Wonderful. I tell Cody to get back on the cart or else!! Im sure he was real scared. Ha.

Off to produce where Cody has to touch everything that he can get his mitts on (reason enough to wash your fruits and vegies folks). I am reaching for cilantro when a man walks too close for Kyle's comfort. Kyle grabs him. Nice. I smile and apologize. Cody is now running circles around the produce area. I try and stay calm and collected. I wait for him to get close to me and I snatch him. I carry him the rest of the shopping visit.

Finally checkout time. I pick a line thats short and load my stuff on the counter fast like a bunny. Cody is now laying on the bottom of the cart and Kyle is starting to make lots of noise cuz he likes the echo! I tell Kyle what a good boy he was and we are almost done. He really did pretty good. I was impressed and even thought I could do this again with some minor changes (cody in the cart the whole time). I walked out to the car with Cody riding on the bottom of the cart and Kyle making his "bird call" noises.

I started loading my groceries with Cody crawling around the cart and ground..me telling him to get up its dirty on the ground. As Im doing this the woman behind me in line approached me with a smile. She told me she had to come tell me how impressed she was with my patience. She said how great I handled it and how impatient she is with her own kids. I told her with tears welling up under my sun glasses, how much she just made my day! And she did. So often I think I am so impatient with my kids and to know that some stranger noticed me trying my best to be patient meant more than she will ever know! So thank you to the woman in Super Target who made me not wanna quit my job as a mom today! (I knew I loved Target) :)