Well, it was a Walmart shopping day... and a bad SPD day. Peanut is a sensory seeker, so she was screaming and signing on the very top of her lungs... and I mean as loud as a 4 year old can get (which anyone with a 4 year old knows that is pretty loud). Peanut was also pulling things off the shelves, trying to climb shelves, and lagging as usual 3 feet or more behind us. Cookie is sensory defensive and was hiding in the cart screaming at Peanut "STOP! You are giving me a headache!!!!!" Pumpkin has PTSD and Walmart is typically a trigger for her, so she was touching everything on the shelves and knocking things over. Eventually I got frustrated with calling Peanut (who is not very good at responding to her name...so I am like a broken record) and trying to get her to stop getting into stuff, so I put her in the cart. At this point, she began reaching out and pulling things off the shelves and throwing them at her sisters! Then she began trying to bite me and Cookie!
So on the outside, my kids look "normal" but they can't really help their behaviors when they over stimulated or in Pumpkin's case... anxious. So little old lady after little old lady gave me that look of horror... that why don't you just control your kids look. And some odd looks when Peanut started screaming for a "chewy" since we help the biting part with stage 3 teethers. However, I think the guy who rolled his eyes at me and shook his head was the one that got to me. Typically, I am able to just let it all roll off my shoulders, but we all have those days. Yeah I get it, they don't understand... and to the general public... my kids look like naughty kids... but that's just not the case.
So today is a new day, and today I can laugh... yesterday I could not. It brings a new perspective... that what we see on the outside doesn't really mean anything... because on the inside it could be a completely different story...
