You Want to WHAT?!

Yesterday I took Aaron to Great Clips.  I have so many stories that have come out of our Great Clips “haircut/beard trim/anything else on the face that can be buzzed” visits.  So there we were, with me telling Aaron to not barge in the door without me, but he did anyway, as always.  He marched up to the counter and then just stood there staring down at the tempting Dum Dum Sucker bouquet in a bowl that sat there.  I told the stylist that we had checked in online, she said we were next, and I told Aaron to follow me and to not get a Dum Dum until we were done done. 

I didn’t really say done done but I thought it sounded cute.  😊

Aaron would have thought I was weird.

So we sat down to wait for a minute.  I told Aaron to hand me his glasses, and his watch.  He, for some reason known only to him, also removes his watch when it’s time for his haircut.  I have gotten many a smile from people as they watch Aaron remove his glasses and then his watch.  I’ve also told many people to be thankful that this is ALL that Aaron removes!

Anyway, I told Aaron to hand me his glasses and his watch so that he could be all ready when the girl finished sweeping up the hair on the floor.  Aaron was watching the hair sweeping with great concentration. 

“Hand me your glasses,” I repeated.  But Aaron softly said no as he shook his head and continued to focus on the girl and the broom.

I waited a few seconds.

“OK, hand me your glasses,” I said again.

But again Aaron said no as he intently watched the stylist finish her sweeping.

I decided to test it one more time, knowing full well what Aaron was doing.  And one more time, he would not remove his glasses.

“All right, Aaron, I’m ready,” the girl said. 

And as if a spell was broken, Aaron came to attention.  He took off his glasses, handing them to me, and then off came his watch. 

You see, Aaron wouldn’t remove his glasses until his name was called.  It’s the same reason he won’t eat ice cream when watching television unless the show is on.  He will NOT eat ice cream during commercials because commercials are NOT part of the show, and he wants to eat ice cream during the show. 

Get it?

Well, we better get it because Aaron is NOT going to change.  These are just two very small examples of how Aaron does things Aaron’s way.  I looked at his glasses and his watch laying in the chair beside me, and I thought of the example they were of Aaron’s world, lived Aaron’s way.

Sometimes Aaron’s ways are funny.  Like walking into Subway today after I picked him up from his day group, and reminding him again to stay with me and to enter quietly.

Who am I kidding?

And the staring man sitting there did not sit well with me, by the way.  Good grief!  Aaron’s not an alien, much as he would love to be!

But I didn’t have time to dwell on rude staring men because Aaron was at the counter and he was not ordering a sandwich.  He was telling the nice girl about his upcoming day tomorrow at his day group.

“Guess what movie Paradigm is going to see tomorrow?” he asked this perfect stranger, as if he had known her forever.  She smiled but was a little taken aback.  Aaron has that effect.  He offers no “hello,”……no “how are you?”……..no introduction of any kind.  He just launches into whatever is on his mind at the moment.

And he rubs his hands together while he talks, at differing speeds depending on his depth of excitement at what he is telling.  This time his hands were probably at a slow to medium pace.  Kind of mesmerizing, actually.

Aaron didn’t pay attention to me trying to distract him……trying to get him to just place his order instead of telling this stranger all about his coming day. 

“What movie?” she asked with a welcome smile.  She was getting it.

“We’re going to go see THE MUMMY!!!!!” Aaron exclaimed, his hands now at a moderately fast pace.  “Have you heard of that movie??!!”

Somehow we ordered a club on Italian with extra cheese in between mummy comments.  All was done, I had paid, and was sure that we were free to leave.  A young man who worked there had just wheeled out a large display of chips that needed to be placed just past where we were standing, so I was urging Aaron to follow me. 

Oh, but Aaron had one more thing to say.

“I love Natalie!!” he blurted out, “and I want to marry her but my Mom says I CAN’T marry her!!!”    

Well.

I would have hummed the theme song to Days of Our Lives if I knew it.  This day of my life had just turned more interesting than it already was. 

I didn’t dare look at the rude staring man. 

Aaron’s hands were now at a furious pace……a smoking pace.

The girl just smiled, a very large smile.

The boy whose head was poking out from behind the chips display was deciding whether his smile was OK, so I smiled back to assure him that it was.  What else is one to do? 

I told Aaron that it REALLY was time to go.  I always wonder what people who experience Aaron like this tell their families or friends when they go home.

Aaron has been a huge mixture lately of ups and downs as he adjusts to a medicine increase, and whatever else is going on in that brain of his.  I’ve been pretty exhausted with it……very frustrated at how he’s been treating us and treating others, especially our friend who visited from Arizona……just plain tired and weary.

But there are times of laughter, too, and times when Aaron’s way of doing life is just downright hilarious if you can only step back beyond embarrassment and enjoy it. 

Easier said than done some days, but Aaron’s not going to wait on us to figure it out.  He’s already burst through that next door and found someone else to talk to!