This weekend the family made a trip to the local Walmart. We went in to purchase some groceries and other household items. Samuel is pretty familiar Walmart and understands that he rides in the cart when he goes (he would run around the entire store if we didn't have him in the cart). This week we entered on the appliance side instead of the grocery door. We then went to the household items (soap, toothpaste, shaving cream, etc.) section and Samuel was not very happy. He kept saying "this way", pointing toward the other side of the store. Then as we began to go that way, he got even angrier because we did not go down the aisle that he wanted us to go. Next thing we knew, he was screaming to the point that most of the store could hear him. We soon realized this week's trip to the local Walmart was not going to be successful with Samuel. Therefore, I suggested to April to keep Cameron and I would take Samuel to the car. As I took him out of the cart and went out the door, he was screaming at the top of his lungs. I'm certain some of the customers had to be questioning if I was kidnapping him as I carried this kicking and yelling child to the car. When we reached the vehicle, I literally could not get him into his car seat due to the kicking that he was doing. Therefore, since I knew it would be a while before April and Cameron were finished shopping, I decided to let him sit in the front seat while we were parked. The crying and screaming continued for another 10-15 minutes before it gradually stopped. A few minutes later, he was completely calmed and voluntarily climbed back into his car seat. I buckled him in and we waited patiently until April and Cameron returned. The rest of the day went very smoothly with no problems from Samuel. One year ago, there is no way we would have known how to handle this outburst. Although things are far from easy, we feel like experience has taught us how to better handle various tantrums. Everything is still very much trial by error and the next time may not be as successful, but at least progress is being made.
We have been blessed to have a couple of days of beautiful weather. Yesterday while Cameron and myself were gone, April took Samuel outside to play. We have some sidewalk chalk that he enjoys using. I have mentioned in previous posts, how infatuated he is with letters and numbers. Well, Samuel wanted April to write the numbers as he called them out on the sidewalk. He would say, "write 1, 2, 3." So April would write every number from 1 to 30 on the driveway in a certain color. He would then get extra excited as he repeated each number. Moments later, he would hand April another color for her to write the numbers 1-30 again and repeat the cycle. She did this through five or six colors and it lasted around 45 minutes. They did play T-ball for a short while, but the better part of an hour outside was spent writing numbers on the sidewalk.
Although repetition can be rather mundane for adults, we are thrilled that Samuel is excited about something productive like numbers and letters. I'm curious about other parents experiences with this type of behavior and how we can keep it positive, but not allow this infatuation to prevent him from experiencing other things around him.
Thanks again for taking time out to read. I am most grateful for the many kind words that people have shared.
Until next time,
Brian
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