Kids, Shopping, and Movie Night

Yesterday was a revelation.  After the Things got their haircut and I brought Thing #2 home for a nap, Thing #1, my mom, my sister, and I went to the mall.  There was a health fair going on and Thing #1's OT was there at a table with sensory activities.  I figured this was a great way to put in practice all of the stuff that Thing #1 has been working on with his OT, which is coping with familiar things in a different context or a new environment.  So, the activity and the person would be familiar but the place and the loud buzz of activity would be challenging.  We got there and the fair was much bigger than I thought it would be and Thing #1 had almost fallen asleep in the car right before.  Both of which amounted to a possible catastrophe.  When we finally found the table, Thing #1 was not happy and did not want to do anything, but we discussed our previously set expectations of picking one activity and once he started, he didn't want to stop!  It was great.

And since we were at the mall, it only made sense to stay and shop.  Now, my mom is an expert at all things retail.  She is a shopping force to be reckoned with and a deal-finder to envy.  I wasn't sure how Thing #1 would handle the afternoon, since we have never been to a mall just to be there.  We usually get in and get out pretty quickly.  He did awesome.  Not only did he pick out some of his own clothes, but he discovered the wonderful world of fake people...I mean mannequins.  The fascination that ensued at one particular store that had mannequins every few feet was fantastic, bordering on disturbing.  He quickly made a habit of touching the fingers, then the toes, and then feeling the leg.  It all culminated at the final store when Thing #1 and Aunt Phannie pretended to be mannequins themselves.  The positions that Thing #1 came up with was hilarious.

We met up with the rest of the family for a big birthday dinner for Aunt Phannie and then we went our separate ways for movie night.  The kids went with the family while the husband and I had our own movie night, at an actual theater.  I came home exhausted but perfectly content.  What an amazing day filled with Thing #1's fantastic experiences with the generally mundane.