Please don't give my child special treatment (though I know you mean well)

Thanks again for the nice comments on the last post. Lurkers and Dave, that wasn't so hard, was it? Hee, hee.

We have a whirlwind of a week coming up: We're going to Hersheypark Thursday, then Sunday we're headed to Duke University for the stem cell therapy. May I just say, OMG! I didn't think I'd have challenges over at Hershey, chocolate bars don't tempt me, but today someone told me they make Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. This could be trouble. I think I am going to tell all of you exactly what I weigh, so that will be a deterrent for me to OD on them.

Um, maybe not. Wait, I know, Max! Let's talk about Max! He had a blast at the pool this weekend, a lady was there doing face-painting. Max went right to the front of the line. She asked the other kids if they minded, and they didn't.

I did.

I am OK with Max getting special treatment when it's truly necessary—like at Disney, the crowded lines wigged him out, so the special passes made sense. But when there are three kids waiting to get their faces painted and Max cuts the line, that's not OK. People think he's cute and they feel bad for him, so they grant him these favors. But Max needs to learn manners and patience; I don't want him to grow up to be the world's most obnoxious person with cerebral palsy. He also needs to learn that he IS like other kids. Nor do I want them to see him as an "other," or resent him.

So, I told Max he had to wait his turn. And he did. Then he pointed to the cupcake picture and the purple paint tube and the lady painted a purple cupcake on one of his hands.


Then he pointed to the picture of the fish, and she painted a fish on his other hand.


Then he pointed to the picture of the cupcake again and touched his face, so Max got a cupcake on his face.


Boy, was he happy.

Then I said, "Say thank you!" and he said something that sounded pretty close to it.

And boy, was I happy.