Sometimes, things don't go your way. And with special needs children, you have to be okay with that. This Halloween is the first Halloween that Hilo has been aware and (I'd say) pretty excited about trick or treating and Halloween. He's obsessed with pumpkins. He loves candy. He can't get enough of cool costumes especially of people he recognizes (i.e. superman). For the entire month, and especially all last week, he talked about Halloween. He was so happy about it. Halloween is when very cold winds blew in and made being outside almost unbearable. That is what happens where I live. It's winter cold for Halloween. So, we made a deal to trick or treat inside at local businesses instead since we have Seamus with us, too. Our local mall puts on a trick or treating event to drum up some business on the holiday. Employees of the mall stood outside stores and in the halls to hand out candy. I thought it sounded cute and warm. What parent wouldn't? BIG MISTAKE. Hilo was all amped up after we had been talking about Halloween and candy and trick or treating. We get to the mall, where a line wrapped around the entire mall with the most business I've ever seen. It was crazy! Busy, loud, crowded. We should have known it wasn't a good idea. Still, Hilo was behaving and was interested. We started to go through, and we get to the first business to get candy from, and Hilo had the huge typical autism meltdown. He was crying and refusing and wanted nothing to do with it all, even though he was so excited for the candy and saying "trick or treat". The environment was too much for him. He was completely checked out then. We carried a crying and screaming toddler through the crowded mall, with I've got to guess over a thousand children in their costumes, and I suddenly felt really bad for Hilo. He didn't get to enjoy the holiday like everyone else. He missed it. And I knew he was so excited, but he refused to talk about it. He just screamed and screamed, asked for the park and then McDonalds. He was pulling at his car seat straps and his cute Olaf costume just trying to be done with everything. What did we do instead?
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AuthorGabrielle Rae is a special needs, stay at home mommy of two boys. She enjoys reading and writing novels in her spare time. @onbothfrontsArchives
August 2018
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