Make sure you watch the video at the end because it's the best part!!!!!! I don't know about you guys but I think this anthem? Is officially "adopted."
For the past few days, it seems like I am hearing/reading story after story after story of those moments. If you're an autism mom, you know those moments. Probably more than you care to count.
You're dealing with a sensory meltdown in the cereal aisle and someone helpfully suggests a good spankin' to help with your spoiled brat.
You're trying to wrangle your double stroller while your child is screaming because riding the elevator eight times just wasn't enough and the snotty sorority girl tells her sister that this is why she's never having kids.
You get a lecture on parenting from a hippy who's taken exception to your child (who otherwise would be playing in traffic) being in a safety harness.
I read a post over at Laughing Through Tears that described the top five reasons you shouldn't tick off an autism mom. While I don't agree with every single thing (I'm definitely not a "walking bundle of resentment." Not anymore anyways...) and the language requires a strong warning to the sensitive, it is worth a read. You can find it here. (Don't forget the language warning!)
But even among the few hundred comments on a post describing the mindboggling encounters that we've all dealt with, there are still some trolls who will come right out and call our children horrific names. Seriously??? Ahhh. The age-old question: WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?! Whatever happened to manners? When did tact become overrated?
Only a few of these moments have actually happened to me personally, but the stories just keep coming. I've always wished I could give an appropriate response that would educate Judgy McJudgerson, with just a hint of snarkiness, to keep another mom from any emotional damage.
Most of us already feel like we're "living on the fringe of polite society." (Lisa at Laughing Through Tears) When I get out of my sweatpants, my kids excitedly ask, "Ooh! Where are we going?" Because obviously that is a special occasion. The last time I decided not to go with my usual ponytail, my kids seemed surprised that I actually still had hair.
So when we have encounters like the ones described by so many parents, we feel even more of a divide between "us" and "them."
So I think to makes us feel better, maybe we need to adopt an anthem of sorts. I humbly present you with a possibility! Please be kind to my first attempts at Microsoft Paint...
