Wait, What?

So the other day I talked about a few of the triggers our kids have that affect the way we daily parent them.  Here is a story from our Little Man today:

When we left to take him to school the day was overcast by warm (for the end of Oct very warm).  By the time we went to pick him up it was pouring down rain. 

I knew as soon as we left the school we had a problem.  Little Man began to freak out as rain drops hit his head.  I tried to keep it light and fun by grabbing his hand and running to the car.  I pretty much forced him in, thinking we would be ok if we could just get out of the rain.

We weren't though....he began to get more and more upset.  He wanted to sit in the back of the van, he wasn't happy about me strapping him in, he wanted his book bag but wanted me to see his 3 ring binder inside, HE wanted to show me the binder not have me take out the binder, and on and on.  It's hard with his communication level to know whats bugging him until he's already starting to go down a winding road of being upset.

We drove the five minutes home with him screaming.  I unstrapped him and forced him out of his seat (he wanted to stay in).  Then I pulled him into my lap and began quietly talking to him.  5 minutes later he finally calmed down to a light whimper.

Then it was time to go inside.  Oh yeah....the rain.  He stode in the van saying , "hat, hat, hat" over and over again.  All of me wanted to tell him "it's JUST rain, come on."  However, instead I sprinted in, grabbed a jacket with a hood, and ran back out.  Then I stood in the rain and put it on him.

During all this I'm thinking, "He loves the splash park, he's a water bug, he loves to pour water on his face....what is the big deal?  But, oh yeah, he hated when I put him in the shower instead of a bath."  So what is this little guys trigger.....water hitting the top of his head.  He HATES it.  But he LOVES water.  Go figure.

Needless to say he was ALL smiles as he trotted inside.  Then he stopped where water was dripping off the over hang and giggled as he let the water run ALL OVER his face.  Never a dull moment around here.  :)