Mall madness

It's been a while since I have been to the mall, but we had a free morning and the girls were feeling a little house bound. We decided that a trip to see the kitties at the pet store, might just be the thing we needed. Now, we three girls do venture out often to the grocery store where we are a tightly contained unit of Skye in the buggy and Scarlet always attached to my non-buggy-pushing hand. Despite having a rather wide girth, we usually maneuver without incident through the grocery store and to the check out. The mall is a little different. There is so much open space to run free in, and lets face it... there hasn't been much running free since winter zipped us up in its icy jacket (my exact imagery is a straight jacket, but out of respect for my Canadian friends I will defer from using such a term....can't help but think it though) So, today, Scarlet got to run free through the mall to her little hearts content and to public alarm.

It is often hard to balance letting an autistic kid be autistic and protecting the innocent bystanders from the unconventional sights and sounds of such freedom. Today, I let her be happy, unfettered...alarming. There were maybe only three other families in the entire mall, so I figure it didn't matter. However, when Scarlet came running, hands flapping high in the air above her, the mother and father of a the brown haired toddler ran frantically to their daughter who seemed precariously near this anomaly of a child. They kept rather close watch on Scarlet from that point on. I get it. I do. I have other children. I know a Scarlet's behavior is less than proper, but at least they could have shown some consideration to this little autistic girl's mother and removed their daughter to safety with less urgency.

On the flip side, I spent about 5 minute savoring the peels of laughter coming from Scarlet as we cuddled and played before bed time. It is a treasure of the richest kind to have her laugh appropriately at being tickled or during some one on one play. It is like finding an ancient Egyptian tomb and excavating King Tut's treasure. I only wish the "public" could see some normal moments like these, then maybe she would be less reprehensible.