Cats in Hats and Kids who Conquer

We pretty much watch all PBS shows.  I'd like the think it's because they are all educational with a diverse cast of characters, but that would only be a partial truth.  The real reason for all the PBS love is that we don't really have cable, so that's the only option.  And this mama's got to have some built in tv time.  :)

There have been commercials on PBS for a few weeks about a Cat in the Hat event that is going to be at the library.  Superman begins talking about it and seems pretty excited, so we put it on the calendar.  He begins his countdown to Saturday.

Bear, Superman, and I hop in the van on Cat in the Hat day and head over to the library.  We walk in and there are seriously 100's of people who are just as excited as my Green Eggs and Ham lovers.  We walk to the back of the library where the line ends and inch our way toward the doors we just walked through.  The good news, the line is moving quite fast.  The bad news, once we get to the front of the line I realize there is another line, longer and slower, to get to the actual Cat in the Hat.  This line snakes through the stacks so you have no way of seeing it upon arrival.  This line easily ups the aforementioned 100's of people to the 500+ range.

I go into diversion mode.  
"What do you think Ababa's doing at home?  Should we go home and play?  Should we go get in the van or stay in this really, really long line and see the cat?"  Everyone thinks we should stay.  I'm not sure we can handle it.  I'm about to start mentioning stopping for ice cream, but decide to bite my tongue.  What if one wants to leave for ice cream and one wants to stay for the cat?  I don't want any kind of mutiny, after all.  So we wait.  And wait.

Let's let all the waiting serve as a segue into another topic.  Although we have been talking about it for months, we have recently decided to pursue some help for Superman in the realm of sensory processing issues.  We have been back and forth on this because it does seem he needs some help, yet when I read or do any research on sensory problems it seems so much more than what Superman deals with.  We've finally gotten in touch with an OT that has a stellar reputation and we will see where we go from there. 

Now let's get back to that super long line.
Can you see where this is going?  A kid with slight sensory issues surrounded by tons of people waiting for an hour in the most boring line of his life?

Well, you are wrong!  He did fantastic!  An angel.  Seriously, it was a proud and hope-filled feeling.

Rather than crawling around and/or pushing his body into strangers or book shelves, he dug in his Cat in the Hat goodie bag and passed out stickers to all the kids surrounding us.  He thought of good questions to ask the Cat in the Hat and wondered aloud what kind of things he should tell him.  He held my hand, looked up into my eyes, smiled, and whispered that he was excited about 30 times.  He asked Bear questions about the cat.  He tried talking to our super shy line buddy. 

I was so, so very proud.  Such a seemingly normal event, but such a big one in my eyes.  I went home and told Jon that we could, in fact, handle Disney some day.  Maybe even the fair.

When we finally did get to the cat, both boys were ecstatic, yet 100% appropriate.  Awesome.  Superman really does have an affinity for characters in costume.  Another strong argument for going to Disney.  :)  After all, remember his love for the Chick-fil-a cow?  After we hugged the cat several times, had our pictures taken, petted his soft fur, and patted his face, we moved on to sit and sing Christmas carols with a crowd and a guy with a guitar.    When guitar man was wrapping up we got up to leave which happily coincided with a break for the cat, so we got a little extra chat time with him.  After saying good bye again we began walking to the door.  Superman said, "wait right here, I gotta see the cat in the hat and tell him something!"  I did not wait right there, but instead followed back over in time to hear Superman say, "I really like all your books!".  It was so seriously sweet.  :)