Dear Noah......Halloween 2006

Well Noah had great weather for trick-or-treating. He had a good time but only made it about an hour...and that was fine. He got a good 3/4 bucket of candy. We stopped at Lowes so I could get more bubble lights. He had fun looking at the appliances...always does. That is a HIGHLIGHT to his trip there.

WHILE there this man who has come up to us before.....wandered over our way again......trying to blow up a balloon for Noah. There is something a bit creepy about this man....and Noah does not like him or want any balloon from him. The man just stands there with a goofy grin on his face.........and Noah cowers INSIDE the cart...starting to have a fit.....I just looked at the man and smiled and said "that is okay but he does not want one".....finally the man said "oh yeah....while I was blowing this up and looking at him I suddenly remembered I have seen you two in here before and he does not like balloons!"

I thought to myself it is not balloons he does not like...it is YOU! He won't leave us alone. Last time there this man followed us all around the store......it even bugged me. IF it happens again I am going to complain to management. I mean you should only have to tell him NO once......and he should leave you alone. He does not seem to get the message.

ANYWAY.......out in the car.......Noah said "I am going to have to kill that man".......so matter-of-factly. I asked "what?" and he repeated "one day I am going to have to kill that man". I was stunned. This is the first time I have ever seen his demeanor change and his entire face take on a different look and he has ever said anything remotely close to that! I guess in his mind it is a simple solution to an ongoing problem. I asked him why he would think he had to do that and he said "because he keeps following me around and won't leave me alone even after I have told him no". I have to admit he had a valid point....but I tried to point out how KILLING someone to get them to leave you alone would NOT be a socially acceptable solution to a problem like that. I explained other OPTIONS to him that would not land his butt in jail for eternity. It became very clear how DIFFERENTLY he sees things from some. How to him this solution he had thought of was simply that! A solution.......not realizing really what KILLING actually meant or entailed. When I asked him if he KNEW what killing meant he said he did not. I asked where he had heard it before......as I do not let him see shows or anything that mentions it let alone shows anyone getting hurt. I do know he had watched his cousins playing a game where they said something about killing people there...so maybe that is it. I don't like him seeing that but I know I cannot protect him from stuff forever either...especially in our society. This is the part of his autism that is extremely difficult to cope with....teaching him SOCIAL skills......things that are right....wrong.......proper positive ways to react to things.....etc. It will be ONGOING his entire life.

We then stopped at Krogers and the other store and finally got home. He was so exhausted as was I. I am fighting off some allergy or cold crap and feel horrible.

We will go trick-or-treating again on Tuesday night at my parent's house. Should be fun and bring back memories of me going around as a child...and they still do theirs at nighttime which will be more fun I think. Noah did ours around here during the daytime...between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m.

Here are some pictures of him at Lowes....in HIS ELEMENT! he LOVES appliances!