The School Carnival

Today was the school carnival.  I know that kids like them, but they are not my thing.  Still, I bought 4 bracelets to support the school (later found out that grownups don't pay) and went over with my guy in a wheelchair and his little brother.

The entrance was accessible.  The bathroom was up a few steps.  There was nothing for my child in a wheelchair to do.   There were several air inflated bouncy rooms and slides.  There was face painting and he hates people touching his face, especially strangers.  It was too hot for him, since he doesn't sweat properly, so I kept wetting him down with the water bottles we never leave home without in the summer.  There was food he couldn't eat. and games he couldn't play.  There was a DJ - he could have gotten up and tried dancing.  There were lots of kids who stared at him.  This was the hardest part.  People who meet our family quickly discover that despite his disability, he is smart and funny like most other kids.  But it was loud and he had no way to communicate and so they just stared.

We stayed for hours, because the is little one loved it.  He went on all the slides and bounced in the rooms.  He ate the crunchy and chewy junk food, played the games and won little prizes and ran around with his school friends. My middle son got up from his chair and walked with assistance to find friends he knew and (silently) greet them.  I held his hand as we sat in the shade and I chatted with the other parents.  He laughed at inside jokes when I complained about one thing or another.

I reminded my son in the wheelchair that we went to plenty of fundraisers for him.  That his brother had helped at the book fair and sat through the wheelchair basketball tournament and bid at the silent auction.  I didn't need to remind him, I needed to remind myself.