Shut My Mouth!

I had been promising Aaron that he and I would have a fun day.  That means a day that does not involve a doctor or dentist visit but instead is wholly dedicated to doing something fun.  I looked at my schedule and decided on a day, and told him last week that the fun day would be Wednesday, the 6^th.  I told him the date with some trepidation because once a definite date is chosen then I know that we must do what I said we would do on that day.  We MUST!!  And so I hope and pray that nothing unforeseen happens to cancel a date that I have set and that I have told him about.   Aaron doesn’t handle cancellations very well, which is why I often pop things on him at the last minute.  

Speaking of minutes, yesterday – our fun day – began with Aaron gingerly coming down the stairs first thing after getting out of bed.  He found me in the kitchen, as he usually does, and he immediately asked, “Mom, what time are we leaving for the movie?”  He and I had chosen to go see Guardians of the Galaxy at the theater.  I told him that we would leave around 12:00.

There was a short period of silence before Aaron once again asked what time we would leave……..and I reminded him that we would leave around noon.  Aaron took his pills and I poured his coffee, which I carried upstairs to his room.  Once back in the kitchen, I continued loading the dishwasher while Aaron just stood there watching me.  

“So when are we leaving?” he again asked.

“Aaron, I said we’d leave around noon,” I tried to patiently answer.

“Mom, don’t say around noon,” he replied.  “What time are we leaving?”

I turned my back so that I could smile, and I then told him that we would leave at ten minutes after twelve.  He thought for a second and then said, “So we’ll leave at twelve ten?” 

Sigh.  “Yes, Aaron, we’ll leave at twelve ten,” I told him……..and he left the kitchen, finally content that he had the time that we were leaving down to the minute, the way he likes it.  

As the morning wore on and Aaron tried to stay busy, I heard him come into my room.  It was a little before 12:00, but to Aaron the wait was miserable until it would finally be 12:10.  “So we’re going to wait a long time right now before we go to the theaters?” he asked.  

“No, Aaron, it won’t be long,” I said.  “Twelve ten will be here soon.”  And sure enough, I managed to pull it off.  We left the house at 12:10!!!  Aaron was happy and I was happier as we drove to the theater.

We listened to Alabama sing Song of the South……….sweet potato pie and shut my mouth.  Which is what I heard Aaron sing as we walked into the theater foyer, rather loudly…….”sweet potato pie and shut my mouth.”   So I reminded Aaron to please not sing right now, especially the shut my mouth part.  And after he ordered his large popcorn in his typical way…..”Can I have a large buttered popcorn?”……….as if he must ask permission…….he headed for the girl who took our tickets.   And I heard him again.  “…..shut your mouth.”  

Aaron!  And I smiled at the puzzled girl, and I asked Aaron if he was singing again so that the puzzled girl would hear me and hopefully know that Aaron was singing a song that she probably didn’t know and that he was NOT telling HER to shut her mouth…..

Oh Aaron.  

We found seats near the back of the theater, but there was still someone right in front of us, which always worries me………because Aaron has been known to grab the seat in front of him when he gets up to go to the bathroom or when he gets excited.  Or he might kick the seat……or talk too loudly…….or laugh way too loudly………or CLAP…….

Don’t sit in front of us at the theater.

So after we sat down and Aaron had gotten settled, placing his popcorn on the floor beside him and his drink in the cup holder beside the (thankfully!) empty seat beside him, I proceeded to give him my usual theater directions.  Read the above paragraph and you will know what I reminded Aaron not to do, as I tried to be as positive as possible.  Oh, and don’t eat any napkins, Aaron.  Yes, he does that and don’t ask me why.

All the while, Aaron was glancing at the clock and at his popcorn.  He will not eat his popcorn before the movie starts.  He will not eat his popcorn when the curtain goes up.  He will not eat his popcorn during the pre-movie rules that show on the big screen.  He will not eat his popcorn during the upcoming movie trailers.  He will not eat his popcorn during the cool digital sound check stuff that is aired.  He will only eat his popcorn when the movie that we came to see actually starts.  And so he did yesterday, of course.

Guardians of the Galaxy was funny and kept us laughing.  I only had to pat Aaron’s leg maybe a dozen times in order to remind him to be quiet……..and whisper in his ear with the same message several times………..and hiss “Aaron!!” maybe five times.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.  

And on his own, he put his arm around my shoulders once until his arm got tired……….and he held my hand twice.  HaHa!  So sweet!  And so unusual for Aaron.  I smiled to myself and didn’t care what others may have thought.  Aaron showing affection is welcome anytime, even in the public theater.

Oh, and he did eat a napkin, I’m pretty sure.  That’s why he turned his head away from me and didn’t answer when I reminded him not to eat a napkin………and then sat there chewing like he had gum but he had no gum.  Oh well.  It kept him quiet for a few minutes.

So the rest of the day, after we got home, was interspersed with watching Guardians of the Galaxy movie clips, talking and talking about this fun movie, and rehashing the whole thing for Gary during supper.  Our favorite character was Rocket Raccoon.  He was pretty hilarious.  And Aaron said the most amazing thing about Rocket later in the evening.

“Mom, I loved Rocket Raccoon!  He always talked what came up to his head!”

Which sounds so much like Aaron, who usually talks what comes up to his head……over and over and over!! 

And I do the same, if I’m not careful.  

Leave it to Aaron to say something like that……..something that leaves me speechless and makes me think about how many times I blurt out what comes up to my head.

Reminds me of a song.  

“Sweet potato pie and SHUT MY MOUTH!”