Easter Sunday

Peeps! With sweet little button eyes!

Our Easter was mellow, punctuated by ten minutes of frenetic Easter egg hunting downstairs.  We skipped candy and settled for toys in plastic eggs, conspicuously placed for easy retrieval. E got most of the jumping and screaming on video, including a cameo by me and my oily locks. I noticed that my comfy house dress is fading. Sigh.

As I promised yesterday, Mom and I took Tyoma to Wasserman park.  When we arrived,   a purplish and heavy aura loomed, the kind of atmosphere that brings hard rain. I was pleased to see that we had the park to ourselves--I half expected the place to be populated by celebrants of an  Easter egg hunting jamboree. T ran off to rotate giant number logs, and I spent my time splitting my attention between him and mom.

After twenty minutes, we had company. A couple arrived with two kids and a fat, slobbery lab.  I do like dogs, but they should be leashed in a playground.  The mother hollered at me, “Is it okay to have our dog here?”  I felt like hollering back, “No! And could you and your family please leave because your presence freaks us Aspies out?”  but instead I walked over and said, “My son has autism and if your dog approaches him, he might become upset. I am okay with dogs and will work with my son.”

Heh.

Tyoma spent the next fifteen minutes loudly asking questions about the dog.  When the dog actually approached him, he crouched into a ball and begged me to save him from the dog.  The family finally put the dog on a leash, but Tyoma continued his harangue.  “I can’t go down the slide!  The dog is there!”  “The dog is on the steps! He’s going to get me!” and so on.  "The dog has a knife!"  I kid you not, he actually said this. Embarrassed and a bit irritated, the family left. Then Tyoma asked me, “Where did the dog go?”  “To the beach, buddy,” I replied. “Hm. I want to go to the beach and see the dog.  I liked that dog.”

Sigh.

I think in Tyoma’s mind the whole thing was a bit of a game. He was anxious about the dog, but curious, too.  I totally get that and wonder how to do things better next time.