Basketballs, laughs, smiles and tears

Basketballs, laughs, smiles and tears are the best words to describe our Saturday night. We went to see the Harlem Globetrotters last night for the first time and the kiddos were so very excited. Cam had watched them on TV and thought they were hilarious, so when I told him Grandma Judy got us tickets to go see them he was beyond excited. Peyton squealed with excitement because he was so excited and daddy was pretty excited to. You get the picture we were all excited. My mom had not only bought us tickets to the game but she bought us tickets to have one on one time with all of the team before the game. So all five of us headed out ready for a night of fun with the Globetrotters.

The pre-game festivities were amazing. Both kiddos got to play a little basketball with the players, learn how to spin a basketball on their finger, get their pictures taken with each of the players and have their basketballs autographed by all of them. To say my kiddos were on cloud nine would be an understatement. They had huge smiles on their faces and couldn’t stop telling all of us how awesome it was. Cam was most excited to be able to bounce the basketball with them and decided he was going to be a Globetrotter one day. Of course first he will have to actually have the coordination to play the game, but for last night he was ready!

The game started and Cam lit up. We had seats on the court and Cam felt like a superstar. Once it started all I heard was his adorable little laugh and see his cheeks huge from his wonderful smile. He was loving the show. He and Peyton kept laughing together and pointing out all the funny parts, which to them was everything. When the players would do one of their amazing tricks Cam would say, “WOW, look at that mommy!” or “Oh my goodness that was AMAZING!” I loved the show, but hearing and watching him enjoy the show so much was incredible.

After half time Cam went and sat on daddy’s lap. He was getting a little tired and I believe the stimulation was starting to get a little overwhelming. I can always tell when this happening by a look he gets and a way he starts to act. We asked him if he was ready to go and he said no, that he wanted to stay and watch the rest of the show. So, the game started back up and I heard his laughs again, not as loud but they were there. Then all of a sudden that went away. One of the players was joking around doing a skit and picked Cam up from daddy’s lap and went running away with him up in the air. Cam’s face went from a brief smile to complete terror and tears. He was completely petrified and didn’t understand what was going on. The player finally realized that in what seemed like forever but was probably only a matter of seconds and put Cam down and he came running into my lap. He was shaking and crying uncontrollably. It completely crushed me. Most kids want to be a part of the show and I think had the circumstances been different and Cam been prepared he would have loved it. But, that didn’t happen; he wasn’t prepared and now was meltdown time.

The crying lasted for a little while and the shaking lasted longer. But, I was so proud of him because he didn’t lose it completely though I could tell he wanted to. He sat there crying and I kept trying to console him, hugging him and pointing out funny parts of the show to get his mind off of what had just happened. He finally started to smile, tears were still coming but he was smiling. Then he started to hug me, watch the show a little and I started to hear his laugh. I knew I had him back and he was settling down. We all offered to leave but he was content on my lap watching the rest of the show and wanted to stay as long as I promised him that wouldn’t happen again.

I sat there fighting back tears because one, I felt horrible for him, he was so scared, petrified in fact. But, then I was so proud of him because though I could tell and feel in him that he wanted to completely meltdown right there, he didn’t. He cried and was shaking yes, but he didn’t fall on the floor screaming and completely meltdown. Others in the audience laughed at him, one lady even made a comment that fortunately for her, my mom, Bryan and I were more concerned about Cam that we didn’t say anything back to her. It broke my heart that he went from completely being on cloud nine, loving everything and smiling bigger than I have seen in awhile to complete tears and trembling.

On the way home though he said he didn’t just like the show but he loved it. He said “I really loved it mommy, I just really didn’t like it when that man picked me up and ran away with me. I was very scared and just didn’t want to leave you.” Again, even though that part of the show was a bad experience we had a breakthrough. He explained a little bit of how he felt, which is a big moment for him. It might seem like nothing, but trust me it was huge. This time the car was dark so my tears fell and no one knew or saw so I felt it was ok. I was proud of him, beyond proud and I was sad for him all the same.

Yes, I know some will say well my child would have been scared too. I realize that neurotypical children have fears too and I am not trying to belittle that in any way. Cam’s fears are different and his reactions to these fears are very different. Him holding it together and not completely melting down last night was huge and is a night that will forever be in my memory. So…..last night was night of many memories for all of us.