Franklin Institute

Museum Monday this week was spent at the Franklin Institute. 

We all took a vote and that's what won.  Personally I love the Franklin Institute, but there are lots of areas that are tough for Aaron to handle.  It's not always easy to figure out what will cause him to hold his ears and freeze in terror.  Sometimes it's the fact that he remembers an unexpected noise from three years ago that was relatively in the vicinity of where we are. 

Sometimes it's the fact that something scared him in the Planetarium (for example) last year and even though he knows and understands that we will be seeing a totally different show, that he can leave with Mommy and Daddy at any point, that he could even walk into the Planetarium while the lights are on, he still cannot bring himself to go into the theater. 

Monday was a minor break through of sorts.  Julia was very excited that she was finally allowed to walk through the giant heart by herself.  She followed behind Brendon and was virtually skipping as she came out, holding Brendon's hand.  "We used the buddy system," she explained to us. 

Aaron walked around the area the heart was in for awhile.  He would drift away only to come back to it again and again, holding his ears each time.  Eventually he said that he wanted to go in it in a very hesitant voice.  Julia was there at the time, and she quickly spoke up, "I'll go in with you, Aaron.  It's really not that bad."

After the first section of the heart, the kids came through a part where we could see them for a moment.  Aaron's hands were firmly clenched over his ears, but Julia was slowly walking behind him, murmuring all the while, "It's okay, Aaron, it's okay, that was the only loud part, it gets a lot better after that."  It felt like forever while we waited to see them again.  I was so close to walking in the exit, expecting to find him frozen inside there, when the two of them walked out, together.

I know most of the Franklin Institute is still really tough for Aaron, but on Monday, he conquered his fear of the heart.