Here’s what actually happened on Mother’s Day.

Katie and I slept in, and then spent a quiet morning with her watching Signing Time (sign language/speech videos that she loves) and me writing on my laptop at the kitchen table. The doorbell rang and I was surprised to find my friend Karen. She’d been to the Farmer’s Market and had brought a delicious pastry for me, organic strawberries for Katie, and a bar of handmade “stress relief” soap. I made a pot of fresh coffee and Karen and I sat at the kitchen table, eating pastries and chatting. Katie ate strawberries and admired the soap. She tore off a corner of the paper, but stopped when Karen told her it was a gift for me. She looked down at the tear, concerned. I said, “Would like to wrap it up and give it to Mommy as a present?”

She beamed. “Yes!”

Later Katie would carefully tuck the torn corner in, tape it in place, and then spend 20 minutes debating which gift bag to choose from the hall closet. She placed the soap in the bag, added tissue paper and packing material, and covered the bag with multi-colored bows. She presented it to me with a huge smile.

I thanked her and asked if she was ready to go to the mall. Maybe she could pick out her own present for Mommy. (Why hadn’t I thought of this earlier?) She grinned and said, “First present, then escalators. Want to ride escalators.”

The mall was packed, but Katie refused to hold my hand. It wasn’t necessary. She stuck with me despite the crowds. A few years ago—maybe even a year ago—this wouldn’t have been possible. We went to J. Jill and she watched while I tried on a few tops. She offered her opinion on which ones looked best and waited beautifully while I purchased her favorite. We rode the escalators and the glass-walled elevator. We took in the colorful displays. She found a gorgeous black and white strapless sundress on display in the junior department and wanted to try it on. It was a tiny size 0, but still much too big. We admired it in front of the mirror and I told her what good taste she had, how in a few years we’d buy her a pretty dress like that.

By then we were both hungry so we put our names on the restaurant waiting list and returned to Macy’s to browse. We tried on sunglasses and Katie straightened up several shoe displays while I chatted (somewhat involuntarily) with an eager salesperson about parenting. We experimented with costume jewelry and Katie selected a beautiful copper and silver necklace for me. When I’d completed the purchase, she wanted to eat. We still had 20 minutes to wait for our reservation, so we decided to cancel it and went out for pizza instead. While we were eating, several people commented on how well-behaved my daughter was. I refrained from mentioning she has autism and merely thanked them. We returned home and relaxed in our backyard with root beer floats.

I was right. It was the best Mother’s Day ever. And the best part? My beautiful, talented daughter managed to pull it off.

Until next time,
Cynthia Patton