One day Vince came home from school with a Build A Bear coupon. Ed and I talked and I told him that I didn’t think Dominic would be interested and was it worth spending the money if he really wasn’t going to enjoy it or engage. I wasn’t trying to exclude him from the moment however I wasn’t sure it was worth the stressfulness of taking him if he hated it and also taking away a fun time for Vince. This was one of the first times, Dominic was able to put me in my place. He was not fully verbal when this happened but his message was delivered loud and clear to me.
We decided that we wanted to try to take him and felt he deserved to be a part of the outing even if he wasn’t engaged. Dominic had a different plan that day. He was engaged from the moment we arrived. He picked a cute dog to stuff and quickly named him Bob. I was in awe that he had picked something he wanted and also was going to the machine that stuffed the dog. He waited his turn in line. Now he was anxious and was not the most patient but this was a win for sure. He actually wanted to stand in line to get his animal stuffed. I thought to myself, I am hearing the message loud and clear. “I told you so, Mom.” Even if he wasn’t saying it….I was hearing it. “I am listening, even if I don’t talk or engage. I hear you, Mom.” Most importantly, I started to learn the lesson to hear him too.
They do this special heart ritual and I about roll my eyes thinking, this will never happen but again, he proves me wrong and follows along the best he can! WHAT!
The worker then tells us to go to the washing station. I am about in tears when he starts washing his dog with Vince. I am almost in shock and I make Ed take pictures to prove to me this isn’t a dream. We then go through picking out an outfit and also naming him. He actually chose the name himself.
I left that store in tears. People walking by probably thought I was upset or had a bad experience. It was the best money I had spent and the day was priceless. This memory only took thirty minutes for us to complete however it is one that will last a lifetime.
Since that day, Dominic sleeps with Bob every night and takes him on every trip. I view him kind of like Woody in Toy Story to Andy. Dominic loves Bob and puts him on his bed and tucks him in after the bed is made each morning. There are many times when we are thinking about trying something new and I say “it’s a Build A Bear” time. Even though my son couldn’t put into words what his true feelings were that day, his message was very clear to me. “Mommy, never count me out, never think I don’t want to try, make sure you always include me, I want to do fun things too, never leave me out, and I can hear you, please hear me.” My life changed that day in Build A Bear because it taught me that I should never count my son out and to always be willing to give him a chance.
