When the Clock Strikes FEAR

So let's talk about Jimmy and his latest obsession... clocks.

A few weeks ago Jimmy came home with a book about a little boy who stayed up all night. Completely ancillary to the story was the extremely minor detail that the background art showed a clock reading a different time on each page. Well for some reason, unable to be understood by neurologically typical people, this sparked and obsession as strong as the great ceiling fan obsession of 2008.

Now no matter where we go if Jimmy sees a clock, even if it is someone's watch or high on a wall, he makes a beeline for it and plays with it until someone intercepts it or he breaks it. In fact, I am quite certain his goal is to break it. The obsession is only for analog clocks, digital is safe. It is so bad that the clinic where he has therapy takes all the clocks off the wall before he comes for his session.

Anyway we are working on this issue. Today I did what I try my hardest to never to do, which is take all three of my children into WalMart. We had to go to pick up a perscription that could not wait and due to timing I did not get there before the school day is over. Now when we go to Walmart I try to get the cart with the bench on the front so everone has a seat. Today they wer e left out in the rain and I had to use a regular cart. Cristin was fuflilling her daily quota of 5 year old drama regarding not want to walk so I let Jimmy walk. Note I avoid at all costs having Jimmy walk, even though he usually can be trusted.

So imagine this picture: I have the younger 2 in the cart and Jimmy is standing on that little bar under the handle, leaning against me so he doesn't fall, and I am pushing all 3. Now it is all going well until we approach the pharmacy, when out of my periphrial vision I discover where the clock aisle has be RELOCATED! A sense of dread washed through my entire body and my heart started to race as I imagined the catastrophe that would unfold if Jimmy saw it. There were dozens of clocks of all shapes and sizes. I reached deep down and tried to calm myself as I determined the only way to avoid certain disaster would be to act like I saw nothing and keep course.

Thanks be to God he didn't see them... Crisis averted for today.

Oh and Polly this story was for you.