Crying like a baby

Feb. 15, 2012 - I just came from getting Nikko off the bus. The bus driver told me Nikko was crying about something, and sure enough I walk back to his seat (he's strapped into a 5-point harness) and he's bucking and wailing about something. I look down on the floor and I see that he had dropped a Valentine and it was totally out of reach. I unbuckled him while the other kids on the bus were peaking over their seats and asking why he was upset.

"He dropped something, but it's all ok now," I said in a jaunty voice while helping a red-faced, angry Nikko out of his straps.

As I turned away I heard a little girl say to the others, "He was crying, like a BABY!" And then I heard many of the kids start laughing. The words, "like a baby" were echoing in my ears and I almost turned around to tell them all, "He's not a baby!" but I didn't. I walked him off the bus and tried to look confident as we walked back up the driveway. I didn't look back at the bus.

What would you have done?

I didn't say anything to those kids because I think I would have looked like I was whining, too. I didn't have my rote speech ready on how he has a hard time communicating, but he's a nice boy and a good kid like everybody else. I didn't lecture the bus on how not to be mean because I felt like no one would have listened. And now, in hindsight, I'm mad that I didn't say anything.

I hate all those little shits right now.

ETA - We are leaving tomorrow for a wedding in San Francisco and so I won't see any of those kids until Tuesday next week. I can't wait to get the hell out of here, and take Nikko somewhere fun.

(Copied & pasted from an autism forum where I posted this, just so I could remember how I felt.)