Mall Rats

Weekends are for outings, at least for those on the unit without elopement issues.  It’s been so bloody hot this week that Conor’s been to two malls this weekend.  I’ve been thrilled that I can accompany him on both of these outings.

Going to the mall with a retinue of staff to help out if Conor has a tantrum?

Awesome.

Being able to walk around the mall and actually tell him “No, you can’t buy that fifteenth million puzzle” without worrying that he’s going to yank my hair out by its roots?

Empowering.

Seeing Conor having to wait his turn, wait for the group, be patient while other children take their time walking around?

Delightful.

There were so many staff with us, I felt like I was with P. Diddy and his entourage.  Six adults for three kids?  Yeah, that’s about right.

I had a whole strategy in my mind.  If Conor had a tantrum, I would go and stand next to Stevie, who has red hair and blue eyes and looks enough like me that I would pretend to be his mom.  At least until he started up.  Then I’d move on to Johnny and pray that he’d behave himself… at least for a few minutes.

If things got really hairy, I would quickly walk into The Body Shop and pretend I was interested in organic free trade vegetarian fragrance free no sodium laurel sulfate apricot liquid soap for sensitive skin.

Luckily for me, Conor behaved well despite a high level of anxiety, and I escaped the mall without having to buy any soap.  And I held his hand the entire time.

Whew.