Meltdowns in Grocery Stores: Life Without Words

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 Today I went shopping around town with Wyatt, his sister, and our good friend Ryan’s daughter, Zoey. Zoey is 9 - almost 10! She has been such an immense help to me this summer with Wyatt and Sophia. She keeps them entertained, helps me out in little ways that mean so much, and gives me someone to talk to during those long, sometimes chaotic days. Honestly, without her conversation, I think I might’ve lost my mind by now.


Today, though, was an off-day for Wyatt. For reasons unknown to me, he just wasn’t happy. He spent most of the day throwing screaming tantrums... or just screaming to hear his own voice. One or the other, all day long. In fact, as I’m typing this, he’s still screaming in the back room.


As we were leaving Dollar Tree, after filling our cart with random and unnecessary treasures, Wyatt decided to throw himself on the ground, kicking and screaming.


A year or two ago, this scene would have broken me. I would have been on the ground crying right alongside him, hyperventilating, with my heart pounding. Those meltdowns used to send me into full-blown panic attacks. I vividly remember being pregnant with Sophia, standing in the baking aisle of Walmart while Wyatt had an absolute meltdown in the cart. I ended up sitting on the ground crying myself...maybe it was the pregnancy hormones, maybe it was just pure overwhelm.


But today? I just let it happen. I’ve learned that showing no reaction is sometimes the best reaction. Any big display from me only seems to make it worse. So I stood there, calm, while he got it out of his system.


Zoey later told me that people were making comments. And you know what? I didn’t care. A few years ago, those comments would’ve crushed me. But now I know better. They don’t know our struggles, they don’t know our story. And for the first time in a long time, I felt proud...because even in the middle of the chaos, I could see how much I’ve grown


Kerri


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