Monday, May 26, 2008

3 is the new 2

Maybe I missed the memo. Maybe I missed the episode of Dr. Phil. But why did I not know that the terrible twos were NOTHING compared to the thwarting threes??? at two, my daughter never threw fits. she was pretty content with whatever was going on. now? lord have mercy. when she wants to go outside, she wants to go NOW. when she's ready to go home, she's ready to go NOW. now, part of this relates to her autism. she is just really learning how to communicate--and i'm soooooooooo happy about that. and i know she gets frustrated when she can't tell me what she wants. but sometimes, my darling angel...no means no. but here's a story for you that just done pissed me off!

we're at walmart. one of my daughter's autistic traits is that she loves to collect things. why have one or two when i can have eight or nine? she loves to line them up and move them from place to place. and oh yeah...she always lines them up by color. so one of her passions right now is my little pony. great, cuz they're about three bucks a shot. so when she deserves a reward, we go pick out a pony that we don't have yet. my husband and i also had a few other things to pick up (ya know, shampoo, Tide, toilet paper). we get to the check out line, and hand over the pony. ok, yikes! you've all been there. kid freaking out while it gets scanned cuz they want that damn little three dollar pony SOOOOOOOOOO BAD. now, i know we have to teach patience. i'm not foolish, but i also know that there are times that the fit isn't worth the lesson at that particular moment. i say, hand her the pony after you scan it, so we can all go about this transaction pleasantly. what do you care, you get my money?! so the lady looks at her and says, "i'm not giving this back to you until you sit down (she was in the basket of the cart) and stop bawling." OMG!!!!! I was HOT! First of all, I don't teach my child with blatant sarcasm and trying to reason with a 3 year old is like hitting your head against the sliding doors at the store while they are opening and closing. are you kidding me?

so i reached over, took the pony (never touched the woman) and said, "how i raise my child is of no concern of yours. does she look healthy? did she seem happy before you took the pony? that's all you need to know."

i got home and stewed for a good hour or so. i mean i was ANGRY. so i called the store manager. told him all about it. went on to tell him that part of my daughter's problem is that she can't say, " I want the pony." Then I told him, "HOWEVER...it's no business of hers." This may be a small town, but I'll be damned if some old lady at the local walmart is going to talk to my kid that way.

Now...do I blame Walmart? Of course not. They hired an idiot, it happens to the best of them. But I'll remember that moment. It could have happened at Sears or Target or the grocery store. I get that. But I worked retail for years and that's just COMMON SENSE 101.

Maybe everyone should have to work retail once in their lives to get it? Can YOU think of someone who needs to? I bet you can!

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