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Now Reading: Sun afternoon tales — Swim, Costco & Pee

Sun afternoon tales — Swim, Costco & Pee

Sun afternoon — So the king & I went to Costco this afternoon. I know what you’re thinking “Costco on a Sunday afternoon with an autistic kid, you’re crazy!”
And to that I say, yes I am crazy sometimes I like to tempt fate and enter Costco on a weekend afternoon or as I like to call it…”the belly of the beast”
Anyway Kyle was having a good day so far and I was on my own with him today since the wife was visiting some old college friends. 
Sometimes being out, anywhere is better than being home for
Kyle. Or maybe it’s better for me…yeah it’s probably better for me…
but regardless we had been out since 12:30pm. 
He had his swim lesson at the Y…

See a better quality version of this video over on FB athttp://
on.fb.me/1aC1aoo http://on.fb.me/1aC1aoo
Then he had a nice hot shower after swim and then he had a nice lunch in the cafeteria at the Y….

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After all that it was only 2:30pm. He doesn’t got to bed til around 8:30pm. I figured we’ve got 6 hours to kill and I need stuff at Costco. 
So we went and he did great!
Helped push the cart a little but mainly wanted to stand on the front (back?) of the cart, and wedge himself between me and the cart and hold on, and lean against me. It was sorta like a fun ride for him. So we did that between each stop. 
He’d get on, id push him to the Gatorade and then he’d get off so I could load the cart then he’s jump back on an we’d move on to the next aisle, next stop. 
Check out he had to get off the ride and wait…but he was extremely happy and stimmy. 

And I should’ve figured out why…
Seconds after I took that pic…he peed himself right there on the costco line. 
Somehow he didn’t get his pants wet but there was a little puddle beneath him. 
And I couldn’t get mad or even disappointed cuz it was totally my fault. 
We got him back on track with the potty training a few weeks back and we put him back in big boy underwear but I still need to take him at the beginning and ending of every stop. 
I took him before and after swim, I took him before and after lunch, but i forgot to take him before a long jaunt around a huge store…and he made me pay for it. 
But while in the past i would’ve gotten really annoyed or embarrassed and left my cart and abandoned ship altogether.  
This time we calmly continued waiting on line, and calmly paid for our stuff. 
I think the fact that his pants weren’t noticeably wet and the fact that he was still happy and flappy made it easier for me to keep my cool. 
I told the cashier that my son spilled some apple juice on the floor back there. The girl packing the cart seemed like she understood who Kyle was and was very sweet and offered him a candy bar and kept an eye on him while I signed the credit card pad. 
And we headed home. 
And then he took a nice long bath which he loves. 

The bath almost makes it feel like he’s being rewarded for peeing his pants. But again, that was my fault, not his. 
It’s now 5:02pm and now we’re sitting on the couch together watching Sesame and celebrating National Popcorn Day by splitting a bag of yummy kettle corn.

That’s it, that’s our afternoon so far. 
Hope y’all enjoyed it…
Over and out. 

Written by

Frank Campagna

I’m a 48 year old neurotypical dad with a 14 year old son with severe, non-verbal autism & epilepsy. I created this blog to rant about autism & epilepsy while celebrating my son who I affectionately call “the king” :-).


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11 People Replies to “Sun afternoon tales — Swim, Costco & Pee”

  1. I really adore you autism daddy1 I must say, you're the great dad in the whole world. Kyle's really lucky to have you and your wife as parents. Good job! Keep inspiring people! 😀

  2. I keep meaning to tell you about a pop corn maker we got last summer called The Whirley Pop. It's so easy and quick to whip up batches of pop corn!!!!! It's $25 at bed bath and beyond or Amazon sells them too. But seriously we use ours probably everyday or every other day!!!! The whirley pop website has a bunch of different recipes for different flavored popcorn:-) anyways just thought you guys would really love it. It makes the best popcorn I've ever had. I always make the kettle corn. ��������

  3. I just want to say good for you that you didn't freak out and make a big deal of a little pee. It happens! And to take responsibility for it being your fault, again I commend you.
    A nice day out doesn't need to be spoiled by a nature turn of events.
    Haha, how did he keep his pants dry, need to learn that trick?

  4. Just for the record, you aren't the only one who has had to deal with a potty accident at Costco 🙂 And just like you, it was my fault for not heading straight to the bathroom when we got there. It's so odd because sometimes things like that will embarrass me so much and other times I just shrug it off. Sounds like you two had a nice day together.

  5. my son rides on. the cart what way too. getting harder since he's almost as tall as me and he'd only six. when I took him out when h e was younger I would worry about people judging him. or me when we went to the store. now my child is usually the best behaved in the place.

  6. Anonymous

    Your blog posts, like this one sort of give me a crystal ball to look through.. it's like I can see what the future might hold for my son. While much younger (5years old) he seems quite similar to your son. I don't meet many other families parenting a nonverbal child with classic autism, so thank you for that. As far as the whole long bath thing I hear ya, my son loves the water as well.. but how HOW did you manage to get him to not knock everything on that shelf into the water? My son would have in a second.. same with pillows on the couch, food on a plate, a bag/box/shelf filled with anything especially if I had spent any time organizing it first, like bonus points. Is that just something my son does? Or is this common with a lot of autistic children?

  7. You go Autism Daddy! My Husband and I still are going through the accident stage (5 year old- year 2 of potty training) It's REALLY hard to remember every move to visit the potty. Great job for creating an awesome day with your son! Ps. Our son Trevor loves the 'cart ride' too. I found this is the best way to get him around anyplace that provides carts-

  8. Your comment about are you crazy taking your child to Costco on a Sunday?
    Hell no, you are not crazy. Stores are a fact of life and your son has to learn to deal with them on his terms.

    Months before we had an ASD identification with my son I was taking him to the mall specifically when it was slow and dead and basically just closed stores and mallwalkers because I already knew that he couldn't cope with the stimuli. I figured let him run around and explore everything in a manner and at a time when he won't irritate anyone and it will be a building block. He's generally pretty good in them now. We're maybe past a year for the start of that endeavor. He has almost no awareness of people around him and Christmas in the mall was too much but generally he does OK.

  9. Anne Catapano

    You get a smile out of me every time you post! So many similarities between your life and mine. The shopping cart "ride" is exactly the way my son and I shop (really, the only way I can shop)… he is in his glory doing that.

    That "lost" feeling some of us parents get just goes away when reading your blog!

    Keep UP the good work Autism Daddy!! I'm all smiles :), :)!!

  10. julie k.

    We went to Costco today too. good trip until the end, waiting for our pizza. mini meltdown, which I was able to calm down quickly. I was excited about that..its the little things!

  11. marcia

    You are incredible Kyle is so blessed to have parents like you.