Aaron’s Talking Points #15

It’s beyond time for another selection of Aaron’s funny comments and his very unique take on the world. I hope you smile and maybe even laugh. We do!

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Aaron during Skip-Bo: “Oh, Mom! Yesterday in Best Buy I didn’t look at the sign and I went in the women’s bathroom! I wondered why the Best Buy people had made the bathroom look different.” 

“Aaron! Was anyone in there?” 

“No – just Tiffany.”

 Aahhhh!!! 

“And I went ahead and used the bathroom.” 

Double Aahhhhhh!! 

I will NOT be seen with Aaron in the New Market Best Buy anytime in the near future.

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Aaron, looking at leftovers in the frig: “Mom, do we have any of that fajita thing left?” 

Me: “What fajita thing?”

 Aaron: “You know – the one I wanted to gorge on.” 

Well, Aaron, that could be anything that you’re looking at in the frig, basically.

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Aaron was showing me the box for his ridiculous genetically altered python movie. 

“And look, Mom, at how big that snake is! He’s 128 feet pounds!!!” 

Oh please, can we not start doing this? I do NOT need to add my feet to my pounds!!

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Aaron knew that I had some meatballs in the frig. When he came home today, he said, “Mom, what’s for supper? Is it some of that circle meat?” 

Must be similar to round steak!

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Aaron had a Celtic Thunder CD in the van that we were listening to. We were on number 7. Aaron always listens to every song on every CD, from the very beginning to the very end, no matter if he (or ME!!) likes the songs or not. We have quite a few Celtic Thunder CDs, but only one was in the van at the time Aaron decided to play it. However, he remembered that we have all those other CDs, so today on our way to his doctor appointment, he walked out of the house carrying all our Celtic Thunder CDs.

When we got in the van, I turned on the current CD…the one on number 7 and not nearly finished…but he promptly took it out of the player.

“Aaron!” I said, “why did you do that?”

No comment as he bent way over his CDs, reading the back of each one. And I…who am smarter than your average bear…knew exactly what he was doing. He was arranging the CDs in listening order based on the year that each CD was made, beginning with the earliest and going to the latest.

“Aaron,” I tried again. “I really liked song number 7. I wanted to keep listening to that CD.”

Still no comment as Aaron opened a CD box, took out the CD, and put it in the player. I sighed and huffed, but he took no notice.

“Aaron,” I finally asked, “how did you decide which order to use for Celtic Thunder?”

“From the years went by,” he simply answered.

He never disappoints. But I still like song number 7 on that other CD, even if it isn’t in the right order!! 😃 😃

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I was complimenting Aaron last night on the fact that he’s been happy and more compliant lately. I told him that he’s even been getting out of bed nicely on the mornings that he sleeps a little later. His reply?

“When I wake up in the morning, I expect myself to get up!”

And again, I learn from Aaron – and I laugh, too. 😁❤️

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Aaron, listening to a song as we drove home from his day group:

“Mom, are they kinda a rock team?” 😎😅🖤🎼🎶🥁

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Aaron is really, really wanting to get flowers for some of his staff.

“Mom,” he begged, “I just want to get ONE! Not the WHOLE set!”

😂🌹💐

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I took Aaron to his yearly eye exam today. God bless Aaron’s eye doctor. Next week I’ll be saying, “God bless Aaron’s dental hygienist,” but today all blessings go his eye doctor and to the staff. Oh, Aaron isn’t mean. He just has a very difficult time understanding what the doctor needs from him…..how to express what he is seeing or not seeing clearly…..opening his eyes wide…..not leaning back from every instrument that comes toward his eyes…..things like that. There was one very funny interchange, though, during the exam. You know how the doctor wants you to tell which lens helps you to see the letters on the wall the clearest.

Dr. Nelson: Aaron, is number one better? Or number two?

Aaron: Number one.

Dr. Nelson: OK. Now which is better? Number three, or number four?

Aaron: Number one.

Dr. Nelson: Let’s try again. Number three, or number four?

Aaron: The first one.

Dr. Nelson: You mean number three….here…..or number four…..here.

Aaron: Number one.

Dr. Nelson: Let’s try these. Number five, or number six.

Aaron: The first one.

Dr. Nelson: Let’s try number seven…..

Aaron: Number one.

Dr. Nelson: OK, let’s not do numbers anymore. Is this one better, or this one better?

Aaron: Number one.

HaHaHaHa!!!!!! How I wanted to belly laugh!! I do believe that number one was the winner, don’t you??!! 😎😵🤣

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Aaron just now: “Mom, you know how some people are like, half Indian? Well, is Dad half country?” Where does he come up with this stuff? How do I answer these questions? And when I laugh, he just stands there and looks at me, still waiting for the answer. Cracks me up!

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Aaron is placing his order for his weekend snack bag – a bag of snacks that he gets on Friday based on good behavior and attendance at his day group. Of course, if I was a fly on the wall at his day group, his snack bag might contain fewer goodies. 🤨

Anyway, this morning he wanted to be sure once again that I was clear about one particular request.

“Mom, can I have those circle Reese’s with a wrapper?” 😍

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Aaron and I were in the waiting room at the eye doctor yesterday when in walked a nun dressed in her habit from head to toe. Now some of you remember that Aaron has had conversations with us about nuns he sees when he is out with his day group, like the nun he saw at the mall. We finally figured out that the person he was describing was a nun, so we asked him if she was alone. “No,” Aaron answered. “She had her children with her.” Ummmm…..OK.

So yesterday I didn’t know what Aaron might say about this nun as she stood there at the front desk checking in. I was wondering how long I could hold my breath and was hoping that tickling Aaron’s back would make him keep his head down so he wouldn’t notice her. But he looked up and saw her, and just stared at her as she finished checking in and then walked over to the bathroom.

His only comment: “Mom, she’s wearing a hood. She must work for the church!”

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Aaron is stronger today, feeling better and happy to be talking more. Last night I cleaned his outer ears with a Q-tip, so this morning he had to tell me something. “Mom! Last night you made my throat tickle when you used that ear stick.” I hope I’m nearby if he tries telling one of his doctors about this home remedy.

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Aaron couldn’t go with me to pick out a Father’s Day card for Gary, so I got one that has a Superman logo on the front.

“Superman?” Aaron asked. “That’s weird.”

 I told him it wasn’t weird and to sign the card, which he did, very formally as usual. The first signature was “fancy,” as he says, and the second one was “regular.” Then I told him to put the word “Dad” on the envelope, but of course that word is too regular, so he put Gary Moore on the envelope.

 We told Gary to come upstairs and while he walked up the stairs, I coached Aaron on what to say when he handed Gary the card. “Aaron, say ‘Happy Father’s Day!’ ” I told him. “Say Happy Father’s Day?” Aaron asked. “That’s weird!” So of course, Aaron just handed Gary the card with a very sentimental, “Here!”

 Then he proceeded to point out that he had written Gary Moore on the envelope, all the while laughing at his little joke. So, I’ll say Happy Father’s Day, Gary. If I only had this past week on which to base what kind of Dad you are, it would be enough to say that you are a great Dad. And that’s not weird. ♥

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Aaron woke up this morning to find a little blood on his pillow, so he thinks he had a bloody nose. “Mom, when I woke up, I was sleeping on top of my nose!” That would explain it.

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Aaron wasn’t happy with his weight at his doctor visit last week, so today he came home and said, “I don’t want to be at — so I bought some Twizzlers and checked the back for the fatness and the sugar.”

 He held up a bag and so I asked if that was the bag he bought. “No, this is the second bag. I already ate the first one.”

 Let’s talk about portion control next.

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Today Aaron had an appointment with his Epileptologist. I call it Doctor Visit, Take Two.

Aaron was very drowsy after taking his morning meds. In fact, so drowsy that I told him as we entered the exam room to just sit in the chair, not up on the exam table. But NOOOO, Aaron thinks that one MUST sit on the exam table when in the exam room. Silly Mom.

The nurse had come in the room and had begun asking me questions about Aaron’s meds and dosages. Aaron, in the meantime, stood facing the exam table.

Nurse: So Aaron is on ——-?

Me: Yes. Aaron, do not climb on the table. Turn and SIT on it.

Nurse: And what is his dosage of ——-?

Me: 200 mg. in the morning and 200 mg. at night. Aaron, why are you climbing on the table? Turn and SIT on it.

But it was too late. Aaron was now on the exam table on all fours, his rear end where his face should be, with nowhere to go on that small, narrow table. More like a dog at the vet.

Nurse: (Unaffected) And is he taking ——-?

Me: Yes. Aaron, be careful! What are you doing?!

Aaron was now slowly turning around, still on all fours, and crumpling the paper that covered the table.

Nurse: Aaron is also taking ——-?

Me: Yes. 1,000 mg. in the morning and 2,000 mg. at night. Aaron, for crying out loud, would you please just sit down the right way?!

Nurse: (Still unaffected) So he’s still taking ——-?

Me: Yes, 1 mg. at night.

Aaron was now sideways on the table, shoes kicked off, mission almost accomplished. And I was laughing, really laughing, at this whole scene……which Aaron thought was pretty cool, because at least silly mom wasn’t upset in a mad way.

  Aaron then got fully turned around so now his face was finally where his rear had been, and he decided to sit Indian style on the exam table.

Nurse: Any anxiety?

Me: Aaron or ME???!!!

Nurse finally smiled as she left the room.

WAIT!! No exam??!!

🤣

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‘Til next time. Have a very Happy and Thankful Thanksgiving!

Do You Know Me?

One evening last week, Aaron had a money gift burning a hole in his pocket.  He knew exactly what he wanted, so off we went to Walmart to look at throw pillows.  He wanted one to rest his book on while reading at night.  Soon we were walking down the main aisle toward the check-out lanes, Aaron happily holding his very soft black pillow.  

Walking toward us was a cashier whose lane we have used several times when we have checked out.   While in her lane, Aaron, as usual, talks and talks to her while she scans our items.  He discusses with her what we have bought..what he likes that we have bought..does she like those too?…what he wanted but Mom wouldn’t let him get…would she want those?…why or why not?…and anything else that he can quickly grab out of thin air before it’s time for us to walk away.

Aaron spied her as she walked toward us.  She gave us a nice smile.  I said hello and smiled in return.  Then Aaron stopped beside her and stared.  She wasn’t quite sure what to do.

“Do you know me?” he asked her.  

“Well, I scan your items sometimes and I remember you,” she replied, relaxing some and smiling at Aaron.

“It’s almost my BIRTHDAY!!” he exclaimed.

She wished him a happy birthday as I took his arm to lead him on and thanked her.

Oh, Aaron.

So unabashedly himself.  

Of course she remembers you, I thought to myself.  LOTS of people remember you.

But then it hit me.  It’s one thing to remember Aaron.  It’s quite another thing to KNOW Aaron.

“Do you know me?” he asked.

Aaron wasn’t diagnosed with autism until he was 14 years old.  We remember many incidents during those years before his diagnosis.  We remember his behaviors and quirks increasing but everyone attributing it to his seizure meds or the effects of the seizures themselves.  It was an extremely stressful time.

His autism diagnosis answered so many questions for us.  Off we set on this journey of understanding autism as it related to Aaron.

More importantly, however, we began to really understand Aaron through the tangled web of autism.  

In other words, we were getting to know Aaron for the complex person that he is.  

To REALLY know him.

It’s fun to know the funny side of Aaron.

We smile at the quirky side of Aaron.

And to enjoy the things that Aaron enjoys.

All those traits, and many more, are easy to roll with and relish.

But…and there’s always a “but,” isn’t there?

But there is an equal part of Aaron that can be very stressful and upsetting.

Sometimes, the upsets are mild, like when he uses multiple utensils for every meal.  Or doesn’t even use all of them but he needs each of them for reasons that are very real to him.  

Or how he can’t have just one CD of a particular artist that he is listening to but must have all of them out of the cabinet at the same time, strewn around the van or hidden under his bed.

How his routine and schedule are so important to him, to the point that he has a very hard time yielding any of it to our schedule, or to understand interruptions.

How hard it is so many times to wait on us when we’re going somewhere.  His impatience turns to anger, which can spread quickly to us.  

And then he carries that anger on some days to his day group, where he takes it out on others and has a no good, very bad day.  Here he is on one such very bad day.

It’s heartbreaking to see his struggles.  

“Do you know me?” I imagine him saying to us or to those who work with him.

Knowing Aaron…really knowing Aaron…takes lots of time and experience.  Lots of hard knocks and long nights and balancing acts.

Many days it’s one step forward and two steps back.

“Do you know me?” he asks again.

Sometimes we answer yes through gritted teeth, through tears, or anger and harsh words.

And then guilt.

Guilt that even though we know Aaron, we don’t always remember how he will react to even the most mundane things…things like a facial expression, a tone of voice, or a hand movement that pushes him over the edge.

But there is another thing we know.  

We know that God designed Aaron to be truly unique.  

God gave Aaron to us to love and to care for.  

And God knows that we need His strength and wisdom every single day.

“Do you know me?” Aaron asks again.

“Yes, Aaron,” we reply.  “We know you, and we will always remember that we love you in all your variety.”