What my autistic son and Ice Cube have in common

   Running errands with an autistic child is a role of the dice. 

    Some days you end up with snake eyes and it's a miserable day. The outbursts over a tablet, the tantrums, standing by the door watching it open and close for 10 min, riding the elevator 20 times. 

A normal trip has the protentional to double the amount of time that you allocated 

Today, however was different

To paraphrase Ice Cube, "Today was a good day"

    Noah wanted to go to the library and the gym today-more specifically the kids center and play. No problem, you don't have to twist my arm to go to the gym.

    First stop was the library.

    Our local library has a kids center with all sorts of toys, helicopters, trains, blocks, all sorts of toys. We get there and Noah starts playing with a helicopter adjacent to a baby. Noah has a thing with babies. Sometimes he is over the top with affection towards a baby and we have to warn him to not get so close or touch a baby without asking. Noah walked up said, "Hi baby. I'm Noah. Do you want to play?" In Noah speak he means I'm here to play by myself, but I wanted to say hi. I tell the dad that he is autistic and does not know social cues. We strike up a conversation and start talking football and traveling. He is from Boston, so the conversation bounces from football to living in Mass. It is a really good conversation. Another dad comes over with his daughter and we spend the next 30 or so minutes talking football. The kids are playing really well together and are really receptive to Noah. 

    Noah is building a train track and gets frustrated because he can't complete the track. Instead of throwing a fit-he calmy asked for help. I was able to find the right pieces to complete the track

 Crises averted

    We end up staying for another hour. Noah playing with trains and me talking with the other dads.

"Dad, I want to go to the gym now"

    Heading out we notice an art gallery across the street. We go in and check it out. They had an arts and crafts section with painting. We end up painting an apple together and Noah notices the theatre.

 "Dad, I want to watch a movie", 

"Noah, its closed buddy"

"I want to go in!"

"Noah, its closed. Let's go to the gym"

I can see him getting frustrated. It gets silent for moment. I brace for impact.

"I go to gym now"  

Crises number two averted

    Driving to the gym Noah repeats, "I want to go to kids' area" over and over. We pull up, get checked in only to find out that the kids' area is closed. Noah starts to pout. "Noah, let's go play basketball" "OK!" outside of bowling he loves basketball.

Crises number three averted

    We made our way to the court only to find out that indoor soccer is going on. Noah sits down and I can see the blow up about to happen. "Noah, lets to play tag on the track (gym has indoor track). "Ok, I go play tag!" 

Crises number four avoided

    We play tag upstairs. Noah is happy.

     Noah wants to "exercise" on the equipment. We find a quiet corner where he gets on the treadmill, the elliptical, the stair stepper then starts to play with one of those exercise balls. A guy walks in and starts working out next to us. This guy could not have been cooler about Noah. He incorporates Noah into his routine, and we talk video games while Noah plays. 

Noah is super happy.

    Getting home, Noah gets on the tablet only to find out that its dead and needs a charger. Normally, he flips out, throws a fit, and makes a huge deal about it. 

Today, for some crazy reason he goes upstairs, gets the charger and calmy asks for help plugging it in.

Crises number five avoided.

Ice Cube said it best, "I gotta say, it was a good day"