10 Clowns Don't Make a Circus

Went to the grocery store with the Doodle tonight. 

Thought ah, what the heck, my Friday night is shot--I have no life, why should I keep all the excitement of picking out ripe avocados and peanut butter to myself. 

It's not an easy decision you know.  Creamy or chunky.  It could go either way.

So I threw a hat and a sweatshirt on the Doodle since it's been freakishly cold around here in the middle of, ahem, summer.  And I told him to get his shoes.  Of course he ran in into the bedroom and picked out the rain boots and who am I to judge?  Maybe he has the sixth sense of a meteorologist and a built in Doppler radar and can detect when a storm is coming. Besides, the blue and yellow boots complimented his multi-colored striped pajama pants well. 

So off to the store we went.  What other kid starts clapping his hands and shrieking when you pull into a Safeway parking lot?  I looked in the rear view mirror and saw that giant smile on his face and knew I had made his night.

It was only going to get better for him, I could see the look of excitement and anticipation on his face.

He must have a photographic memory along with his keen sense of direction because he definitely knows his way around the super market.  He knows exactly where the chips isle is.  Maybe he can smell them.  It doesn't help that they put bags of chips, namely Doritos, at every checkout stand, end cap, sale station and deli section of the store.  Now that I told you about this weird Doritos phenomena, watch...the next time you go shopping you will see Doritos are everywhere.

So, first off, we head to the chip isle as he so eloquently points and grunts toward to get his Blue Cool Ranch Family Size bag of Doritos fix.  It's like Christmas in August for him.

While shopping, I can't help notice all of the people staring at us.  I'm generally used to it, but tonight it hit me, maybe I shouldn't dress the autistic kid in weird clothing combinations.  Maybe it was the Jester Fleece Hat with the Bells that made a statement without saying a word as we jingled our way through the store.  Or maybe it was the striped pants and the rain boots.  I'm sure it wasn't the flapping of the arms or the yelling when he didn't get his way, or the way he tried to grab onto other people's carts as we passed by them in the isles and stared at them with that intense look of a midget Jester.  Or maybe it was how he dove his hand into my shirt when we were waiting for our turn in the check out line.  All I could think was what a great show the security bubbles in the ceiling were getting of my bra.

So the question here is am I making it worse for the Doodle (and me too) by dressing him in silly, funky outfits?   Maybe Safeway shoppers just weren't ready for the Jester hat.  It's not like when I dress him in cute normal clothes, people think he's not autistic.