Month: May 2026

Aaron’s Talking Points

Here are some long overdue Aaron sayings that I have collected over the years. I hope they bring a smile to you as they do to us!

I just got Aaron and me some Pork Fried Rice at Good Fortune. They let Aaron have some extra fortune cookies. He watched me setting out the rice and then asked, “Mom, do you have the wishing cookies?” 😃

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Aaron: “Dad and I went to Menards while you were gone. I didn’t like it.” So I asked him why he didn’t like it. “Because it smelled like house things!!” Makes me wanna go sniff around Menards again!

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Aaron, who prefers scrambled eggs, stared at his fried egg this morning. “Mom, I don’t really like eggs like this. They’re too yolky.”

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After a trip to the hardware store with Gary:

Aaron: “Guess what Dad and I saw at Ace Hardware?”

Me: “I don’t know. What did you see?”

Aaron: “We saw seeds that go to spinach!!”

Me: “Did you really?!”

Aaron: “Yes!! The picture on the front of the seeds had an impression of a bush!!”

Aaron’s world is always full of discovery!

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Aaron saw a dog on a commercial, and was reminded of poodles. He told me that he doesn’t like poodles because they’re ugly. I told him they are NOT ugly and asked why he would think that.

Aaron: “Well, their fur is all twisted!”

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After a shopping trip yesterday with his group, Aaron came home and excitedly said, “Mom! We saw a place where you can go take a tan!” Well, I guess if we can take a break, take a walk, or take a swim – then it makes sense to take a tan!

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Today Aaron said, “Mom, John hit his finger with a hammer and his skin crumbled!” OUCH!! I personally hate it when my skin crumbles!

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Every time Aaron and I go into a store, he immediately starts looking for an employee that he can talk to – especially to ask this lucky person where something is. He and I can be standing next to a big mountain of fat watermelons, and if Aaron sees an employee nearby, this happens:

Aaron: HEY!!!!

Startled employee looks up, some concern on their face.

Aaron: Do you have watermelons?!!

Me (While apologizing to startled employee): Aaron! You don’t need to ask him about watermelons. They’re right here, and even if they weren’t, we could still find them!

Now, every time we walk into a store, I tell Aaron not to ask the worker’s any questions. Period. No questions to poor unsuspecting workers!

After I picked Aaron up today from Paradigm, we went into Wal-Mart. I gave Aaron the usual instructions about not asking the workers to help him. Of course, later we were looking for peanuts and couldn’t find them anywhere. I knew Aaron was on the lookout for someone to ask, someone wearing a Wal-Mart vest. Therefore, as I headed to another aisle for something, I gave Aaron the warning about not asking for help.

It wasn’t long, in the other aisle, before Aaron came walking briskly toward me.

“MOM!!! I asked a NORMAL person, and they said the peanuts are in aisle 15!!!!”

So now do I tell Aaron not to ask Wal-Mart workers OR normal people for help? Doesn’t sound good, somehow. 🤔😄

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I just took Aaron on our Friday Walmart “See What Treasures Aaron Can Find” trip. He wanted to go to electronics while I looked for a few other things. My looking for other things took a bit longer that I had planned – partly because of helping an older and very frustrated man find Shake ‘N Bake – but I finally made my way to electronics.

As I turned to head up the center aisle, there stood Aaron a ways off, eyes crinkled in a huge smile when he saw me…a smile that I could “see” even from under his mask. He quickly hid something behind his back and I could hear his chuckle from yards away.

As I walked up to where he stood beside a movie DVD display, he excitedly showed me that behind his back he was holding the ET movie that he’s been wanting. But I also noticed a stack of items on the floor where we were standing. As I looked down at them, I instantly knew that Aaron had been on his own shopping spree by himself.

There on the floor were 3 boxes of Good and Plentys; a box of microwave popcorn; another box of microwave popcorn with LOTS of butter that I don’t let him buy (but hope springs eternal with Aaron); AND a salt lamp. Yes! A salt lamp!! 😂

The extra buttered popcorn and the salt lamp are safely back on the shelves, but Aaron still made out pretty well with his stash. One of the questions at his yearly BASIS meeting is whether he could shop by himself for groceries.

Yes, he could!!! If you plan on a movie night watching ET with LOTS of popcorn and Good and Plentys and only a salt lamp providing soft salt light. 🤣🤣🤣

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Aaron came in the kitchen holding up a bright, shiny penny. “Look Mom! I found a new version of a penny in my pocket!!” 😄

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 We were watching Wheel of Fortune last night and a contestant bought an A. Aaron yelled, “A!!! As in (and he started singing) E I E I O!!” I just looked at him and then said, “Um, Aaron……there is no A in E I E I O.” He said, “What?” And I repeated, “There is no A in E I E I O.” He stared into space and thought for several seconds before just saying, “Oh.” I hope that someone buys an A tonight so I can see what happens next.

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We’re trying to get Aaron to quit giving his friend money. This girl has learned that Aaron will give her money nearly every day. So Aaron told me, “Mom, yesterday I didn’t give R. any money when she told me she was hungry. I went and bought her a pretzel. Wasn’t that better?” Oh boy – I need wisdom!

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Aaron loves deli Cheddar Pasta Salad, so I buy him one every Friday for his supper. As we left for his group, he asked if I was getting him one today and I said, “Sure, unless you’re tired of them.” He said, “Wait! If I say I’m tired of them, then what else will I get?” Ah, he does recognize an opportunity when he sees it!

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I love how Aaron phrases things. He just now told Cody about his dentist appointment next week and said, “So I will be not here!”

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Aaron last night: “Mom, you know that dance that cowboys do? It’s called box dancing.” Box dancing?! We finally cleared up the fact that he means square dancing. Well, maybe he’s seen cowboys square dancing in a box. Or cowboys dancing in a square box. Or cowboys dancing with a box in a square. Or……….

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Aaron: When I got up this morning at 9:53… No, it wasn’t 9:53. When I got up this morning at 9:46, the windows were wet. 😄😄😄

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This morning:

Me: Aaron, I put money in your wallet for popcorn at the movie today.

Aaron: OK. How much?

Me: I put in $9.00, and then 25 cents. It’s two dimes and a nickel. And you have a penny that was already in there.

Aaron: That would be 26 cents.

Thank you, Mr. Precision Personified. 😅 🧐 🙄

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This week is best friend’s week on Wheel of Fortune. One of the grand prizes, since there are two contestants, is a pair of Mini Coopers. Tonight, the two best friends who made it to the bonus round did not win the prize. You can guess what the prize would have been, but Aaron said:

“Awwww, they didn’t get the mini pair of coopers!!” 😂😂

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Aaron: Mom! Melinda took me to Taco Bell today for lunch!

Me: That’s nice! What did you get?

Aaron: I got two crunchy tacos and a nachos.

Me: That sounds yummy!

Aaron: What’s that green stuff on top?

Me: It’s guacamole.

Aaron: Oh. It seems like a slush.

Guacamole slush. Only at Taco Bell!!

Aaron should do a commercial!

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When Aaron watches a DVD, he watches it ALL. I just walked in his room and found him watching the credits of a movie. I asked him a question and so since he paused the credits to answer me, he went back to the beginning and is watching them again. Down to the very bitter end. Every little tiny, boring, unimportant word.

His mind is so fascinating!

Being Aaron’s Mother

I was awake early this morning, looking forward to coffee and quiet time before the busy start of the day began.

But just as I was climbing out of bed, so was You-Know-Who.

I thought maybe he would just go to the bathroom and back to bed.  But that hope was dashed when I heard him turn on his lamp that sits on his nightstand.  Turning that lamp on usually means he’s up to stay.

No sooner was I downstairs with my cup of coffee than I heard his familiar thump-thump-thump down the stairs. There he stood beside the table, staring at me.

I smiled and wondered if he could tell my heart wasn’t in it.

“Hey Aaron,” I said.  “It’s early and you could still sleep some.  Do you want to go back to bed?”

“No,” he replied.  “I want my coffee.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. 

“Yes,” he repeated. 

I gave him a playful look along with a little laugh.

“Don’t laugh at me!” he angrily said.  “I don’t like to be laughed at!”

And we were off and running. 

I tried to explain the difference in teasing and being rude for what I’m sure must be the millionth- something time.

And for the millionth-something time Aaron didn’t get it.

He proceeded then to come downstairs repeatedly to talk…about anything and everything.

How we didn’t pay him his allowance last night.  How barracuda live in the deep ocean and why do unmanned submersibles have to go down deep?  How long will it rain?  Can you show me on the radar?  I think I need to change clothes because it’s cold so can you pick out new ones for me?  I’m hungry.  Can I have some sausage?  Can you fix my stuffed animals in my bed?  We can’t go see Sheep Detectives at the theater since it might be crowded today so when will it be a day that’s not Mother’s Day that we can go see it.  And so forth and so on and on and on and on….

I sighed and rubbed my eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Aaron asked.

“Oh, nothing,” I answered.  “I’m just tired.”

“Well, I wish it wasn’t Mother’s Day and we could go see Sheep Detectives,” was his response.

Dear dear Aaron.  So oblivious to other’s feelings much of the time.

I was finally able to slip out on the patio after he was settled in his room.  It was nice to listen to the softly falling rain and the birds. 

But I thought about how many family’s plans might be disrupted on this wet beginning to Mother’s Day.

Yet we need the rain.  Feelings for many were mixed this morning, I was sure.

Mixed feelings much like I was having with Aaron on this Mother’s Day, of all days!

I love Aaron so much but on mornings like this when he interrupts my plans with his talking and his attitude, I feel frustration mounting.  He was raining on my morning!

But just like we need the rain despite the inconvenience, I often need Aaron to remind me that being his mother is a calling that God placed on my life. 

Living with Aaron isn’t all funny sayings that he comes out with that make us laugh.  It’s also repetition that gets very old…anger that tries us to the core…demands that frustrate us…worries about his health and his future that keep us awake at night….

And when despair rains down on me, though I often fail in mothering him with total grace and kindness, God doesn’t fail me.

He is always there to pick up the pieces when I break, to forgive me as I often must forgive Aaron, and to remind me of how much love He has for me and for this unique Aaron that He gave to us. 

To all of you who mother special needs children…really, children of any kind…know that God has sent the rain to grow you to be more like Him.

It’s not that he gives special children to very special parents.

It’s that He shows us very common and weak parents what a special God He is.

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The God Who Girds Me

I was awake again this morning before 5:00.  My body wasn’t the only thing tossing and turning.  So was my mind, filled with concerns of decisions looming large.

Confidence during the daylight hours usually becomes impossibilities in the dark.

I finally just got out of bed.  For the past few days, after my regular morning Bible study, I have been randomly opening my Bible and looking down to see what God has for me.  I love doing this.  God’s Word is truly not only sharp and powerful but also very full of comfort and peace.

My eyes landed on Isaiah 45: 5-6. 

“I am the Lord and there is no other; besides Me there is no God.  I WILL GIRD YOU…”

Gird is an interesting word.  I looked up the Hebrew word, and it means to belt; to encompass.

But what does God gird me with?

Psalm 18: 32 says that God will gird me with strength.

Ephesians 6:10 says to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.  And then Paul goes on to describe how we are to put on the armor of God.  The first piece of the armor?

The belt of truth.  The old English says, “Having GIRDED your loins with truth.”

OK, so what does all this word study mean to me today?

Simply put, it means that instead of allowing my mind to wander off into worry as I focus on my circumstances, I am to instead intentionally grab the belt of God’s truth and wrap it around my waist. 

The phrase, “Don’t be caught with your pants down,” comes to mind.

I think God understands humor, but really, isn’t this the truth?

God says there’s no reason to be unprepared for the stresses of this life. 

I need to buckle my belt when I toss and turn in the dark and allow worries to fill my mind. 

I need to tighten my belt when I face each new day with its challenges and fears.

It’s the belt of truth. And the truth is, as Isaiah said in 45:6 – “…from the rising to the setting of the sun there is no one besides Me.  I am the Lord, and there is no other.”

It’s the belt of strength…God’s strength.

God promises to gird me…to encompass me with His truth and His sweet presence in my life. 

But also to gird me with strength to fight Satan’s attacks of doubt and worry.

There is no one besides Him to fill me with peace.

No one besides Him to hold me in His arms and to speak to me assuring promises from His precious word.   

No one besides Him to give me strength and resolve to face today, and especially tomorrow, girded up and ready to go forward.